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(meteorobs) To Jonathan Wojack

Hello Jonathan,

Several points have come up while I have been observing and since we last
talked via email. First of all, sorry I have been calling you Thomas...I was
pulling your father's name off the email.

You asked how do you become a NAMN member. Well, you are already one as a
result of our first email several weeks ago. So don't worry about that,
there's nothing else you need to do.

You asked:
>My LM is about 4.  How many meteors would I see per hour on average?

There's really no reliable answer we can give you; otherwise we would have
the meteor rates down so well there would be no need for meteor observers!
But we can advise you that you will probably see fewer meteors than you
would if you LM was 5.0. Speaking of the LM question, because of the factors
you have told me about, this is really not an issue as far as your observing
goes. As GWG mentioned, the important thing is to just make sure you record
your LM as accurately as you can. My email to your parents that we discussed
will be going out tomorrow.....so maybe I can help get you to that dark site
you speak of! Keep in mind that not all observers are fortunate enough to
observe from skies with a LM of 6.5 or better, or are able to observe 100+
hours per year. As long as you report what you see as accurately as you can,
then you have done your best.

You asked:
>that's amazing--your fireball!!  Did any meteorite material fall to the earth?

It was great, I wish you could have seen it! Concerning material falling to
earth, I doubt it but wish it had. When I observe a fireball, I try to
collect as many reports as possible from different observers. (I watch the
TV and paper for reports.) Then, if there are enough, an orbit might be
computed, and if it might have reached the earth, a general location might
be determined. I also make sure the Fireball Data Center (FIDAC) of IMO gets
my report. But I am kinda out of my field talking about meteorites. I am
just now getting started with collecting and studying them. If you have an
interest in them, you might contact a NAMN member who has helped me to get
started. His name is Kevin and his email address is KevTK@aoldot com.

Clear skies,

Mark Davis
MeteorObs@charlestondot net