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(meteorobs) Decent show!
George, Mark et al -
Just got back in town tonight from the wilds of Ontario! In spite of car
trouble, a trip to the garage, and being put on antibiotics by my doctor, I was
determined to get out for the Leonid max. And... wow, it was worth it...
I got clear skies, and one of the best nights in a long time. I will be
decoding my tapes tomorrow morning, and sending in a report.
I thought I'd left my lawn chair at the observing site, but it wasn't there - so
I observed 6 hours sitting out in the snow with my mats and sleeping bag ...at
minus 7 degrees. I was lucky - that is warm for up here.
I was facing the radiant, which I've rarely done over the years. I was quite
impressed with the rates - I can recall Perseid nights that weren't this good.
Lots of bright meteors, and trains on just about everything. Some of the
niftiest were the little ones near the radiant - short 1/2 degree meteors with
trains. Several trains during the night lasted several minutes, and got blown
into "V" shapes as they drifted. Actually, a lot of the trains had a series of
points in them, for lack of a better description, as opposed to a homogeneous
line.
I re-read the notes that George had sent me on the NAMN procedures, as a couple
things are different from what I've done in the past - such as method of
determining limiting magnitude. I think I did OK. I took out several time
sources for CHU, so I'd have backup. I ran tape, but took paper and pencil as
backup. I almost got my car stuck in the snow, but backup cured that too :)
I'm glad that some of you got clear skies as well. It was a very decent shower!
- Cathy
Great White North