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Re: (meteorobs) Low Rates near dawn

In a message dated 96-10-23 15:50:06 EDT, you write:

<< Why not? It is still possible that you are BOTH experiancing fatigue if
the
  drought periods ALWAYS occur during the end of long observing sessions.
 
 GWG
 
  >>
--------
It's possible, but ....
Bob and I normally start our observing at different times. On moonless
nights, I normally start near 10 pm preceded by a 4 hour nap at the
observatory. I also sometimes start whenever the moon sets...which could be
anywhere between 10 pm and 2 am.  Bob normally starts anywhere between 1 and
2 am fresh out of bed. The drought periods aren't an ALWAYS occurence, but
frequent enough to joke about it's happening and speculate that we would be
accused of falling asleep or something. Usually after one of us mentions how
"dead" it appears there is a real conscious effort to "bag" a meteor to end
the spell...but it often doesn't come right away even after becoming aware
and more determined to end it.  It is during these kinds of dead periods that
I'm talking about. There is no precise time that I notice this, but around 3
am  seems to be most noticeable. There are some moments that I would agree
that fatigue would be a possibility, but not everytime.  I get up on the
average of every 30 minutes for about a 2 minute period that helps stimulate
any sagging mental states. I don't think meteors in the sky are that uniform
to expect a steady increase as the morning evolves towards dawn.  But if
given a reasonable interval...such as an hour, I would expect activity to
average out to be more what is expected. Just as I would expect moments of
seeing 2 or 3 within the same minute, I would also expect periods of nothing
at all. It is this uneveness that I find curious. Kind of reminds me of moire
patterns...the washboard patterns in an old dirt road is an example of a
moire pattern.  Of course if you are watching a major shower, this may become
less noticeable.  Anyhow, while observing, just want to give some of you
something to think about if it occurs to you.
George Z.