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(meteorobs) Lyrid Results
-- [ From: Robert Lunsford * EMC.Ver #2.5.3 ] --
I was forced to stay home by an illness in the family but luckily the
skies were free of the normal low clouds and fog that plague the area
this time of year. I started counting at 1:00 am (0800 UT) with a few
thin wisps of cirrus here and there and a poor limiting magnitude of 4.9
. The hour produced 3 Lyrids and 1 sporadic. Just before 2:00 am a deck
of fog arrived from the east. This is unusual but I knew it would not
last long with the evident westward movement of the fog. I never stopped
observing but the LM got as low as 2.0 for a few minutes. When the sky
cleared again no trace of cirrus was seen an LM's of 5.5 and 5.65 were
recorded in star count areas 13 and 15. Unfortunately activity remained
low with only 3 Lyrids being recorded during this hour. It remained
clear past 3:00 am but after that cirrus and more fog began reappearing.
Cirrus had cut the LM to 4.5 by 3:30 am and shortly after 4:00am the fog
completely enveloped the sky. Only 1 Lyrid and 1 sporadic was recorded
during the last hour.
My 3 hour effort produced 7 Lyrids and 2 sporadics. Two Lyrids were in
the negative magnitude category, with the brightest being -2. The
initial temperature was 61 F (balmy) with a humidity of 80 percent. The
ending temperature was 60 F with a humidity of 82 percent. It was warm
enough that I did not need to crawl into the sleeping bag, I just used
it as a mattress. I did need a blanket to combat the dew and the
occasional mosquito (which looked like B52's in the moonlight).
This will be my final meteor watch for the month. I will be
concentrating on the last good observations of Hale-Bopp before the moon
reenters the evening sky in May.
Bob Lunsford