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(meteorobs) Re: Orionid meteor shower
Roger Meunier <meunier@sybasedot com> wrote:
> This will be my first attempt at enjoying the Orionid meteor shower.
> Any suggestions as to how to see the most in the least amount of time?
> I live in the San Francisco Bay area, if that makes a difference.
Roger, it's a bit late for me to be answering this, but there ARE still
a small number of post-max Orionids to be seen (and a few North and South
Taurids, and Epsilon Geminids), plus you hopefully already enjoyed the
Orionid show enough to think about watching the REALLY interesting Leonid
shower that will be coming up in November! :)
The two key things to remember for meteor observing (for fun or science)
are: 1) get to the darkest, clear-horizon site you can COMFORTABLY observe
at, and 2) observe after midnight. (The provisoes are: 1) comfort is ALMOST
as important as a dark sky for meteors; and 2) you can also observer BEFORE
midnight - the show will just be much less impressive!) As for other tips,
some will say to face the radiant for the "primary" shower while observing,
while others suggest centering your field of view 20-40 degrees away from
the radiant for the best rates. Also, wait until the "big shower's" radiant
is at least 20 degrees above the horizon before expecting to see too much.
If you want to find out more about meteor observing in general, and the
upcoming Leonids in particular, feel free to email me, or here are a few
very accessible, very informative Web sites:
Gary Kronk's Comets & Meteors pages:
http://medicine.wustldot edu/~kronkg
North American Meteor Network (dedicated to helping newcomers!):
http://medicine.wustldot edu/~kronkg/namn.html
International Meteor Organization:
http://www.tu-chemnitzdot de/~smo/imo/index.html
--
Lew Gramer
Medford, MA, USA
References: