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(meteorobs) Re: busy and alive
Just two weeks to the end of tax season. The procrastinators are coming in
increasing numbers and I am already doing longer hours. Just got my own
return done. Sunday was a day off, but Saturday was very busy.
Wiped out for the eclipse here. I could tell its progress by darkened
clouds. Was looking forward to seeing this one with Mars nearby. Last
eclipse with Mars was 1971 Aug 6 for the Eastern Hemisphere, with Mars near
a perihelic opposition. The two must have been very similar in both
magnitude and color.
Joan and I went out west of town Sun night for Hale-Bopp. Had mostly cloudy
evenings for a long time, and I didn't see it in the evening until Mar 26.
We saw a dust tail 10 degrees, and only I detected a very feeble ion tail of
10 degrees. Sky was reasonable around LM6.0. Next chance to go see it
comes Wed night when I'm off for the evening. We need to go further out to
get a better sky. Latitude is rather unfavorable here ; haven't seen it
more than 20 degrees up morning or evening. We find it a beautiful sight
indeed.
Both of us rate Hyakutake as our runaway favorite ; I put it above all the
others back to 1970 because of the overhead viewing and super long tail.
Joan saw 40 degrees and I saw 60, losing the end of it in the gegenschein.
Sky was LM 7.3. The next night should have been the best, but it turned
hazy so going out of town wasn't worth it.
Tonight has general conditions worth bottling for slow release all year.
The coolest night since mid-January, we're dropping to the high 50's.
Tomorrow may fall just short of 80. This late in the year it's hard to hold
us below 80 with the strong sunshine. Humidity way down also, daytime
probably will be only 40. Doesn't get any better than this -- absolutely
delightful and invigorating. I was hoping a little touch of winter would
return to break the heat, and it did. Never did get to 90 in town. The
winter tourist season was a busy one with all the warm weather. Sunburns on
visitors were minimal in December, increasing in severity to head-to-toe
lobster red by now.
Looking ahead to the Lyrids, I agree with the expectation of 5/hr with the
full moon. Compare that with 15/hr in dark sky. The numbers are small, but
they still indicate a correction factor in mid-single digit range rather
than using r=2.5 and 2.5 ^ ( 6.5 - 4.0 ) = 2.5 ^ 2.5 = 10 ( a double-digit
correction factor, using full moon LM of 4.0). The usual overcorrection by
roughly factor 2 strikes again.
In 1982 I saw the Lyrid mini-storm in LM6.5 sky. After many months of
wall-to-wall clouds and haze, I was very fortunate that Apr 22 was clear (
in fact the only clear night in several weeks around that period).
Beginning at 1226 AM EST (526 UT) Lyrids were immediately coming at
1/minute. They quickly increased to a 5/minute peak around 1250 AM (550 UT)
lasting 5 minutes, then decreased just as fast. This would give a ZHR much
above the 90 I have seen quoted for 1982 in recent years.
Norman W. McLeod III
Visual Studies Coordinator
American Meteor Society