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re: (meteorobs) Radiant motions et al...

Cathy wrote:>OK, I have the old edition, 1989.  Who do I contact, and how 
>much, for the
>new edition??  (Of the IMO Handbook for Visual Observers)

I believe Bob Lunsford would be our contact here in the US. As I recall, 
it's $20 (US$...I don't know how you Canucks get charged...I'm sure Bob 
will contact you with details.) For those who wish an excellent overview of 
the theory involved in our hobby, I highly recommend this publication, no 
matter what your organizational affiliation. It is considerably more 
detailed than the '89 edition, both in practical observing information, and 
in the theory involved. It also includes observational summaries derived 
from the IMO's VMDB, and the radiants are plotted out on relevant portions 
of the Atlas BRNO charts. It is one of my primary references, but not the 
only one.

C>>Hmmm. Yes.  I see your point.  What I did early Saturday afternoon was 
>sit
>down with my handy Norton's and plot out all the radiants I was supposed 
>to
>be looking for on the Sunday morning. 

See, you've observed (under a Draconian instructor as I recall from your 
tale :-) before so you know that this is 
just what you want to do if counting. With radiants that close, it's no 
time to be trying to figure it out with a dim red light under the 
(shooting) stars. 
Of course, for plotting, I try not to know the exact radiants so as not to 
be subconciously influenced in my plots; however I do know the general 
areas to set up my field of view to best separate the tangled web!

 C:>>Then, when I set up for observing, I
>deliberately faced south, so as to have those radiants right in front of 
>me,
>or in the left or right side of my field of view, and I carefully took 
>some
>time to go over each of them again.  Most of what I saw were sporadics (23
>of my 33 meteors).  I did not plot, but was careful about the radiant
>points.  I called 2 alpha CAP's, 2 JPE's, 1 SDA, 1 SAG, and 4 Perseids - 
>and
>I will stick to my calls on those.

and she says again, with gusto...

>I will stick to my guns on my Perseid calls! ;))

Chill! I'm not challenging your calls, Cathy :->> In fact there have been 
some other reliable reports as well during the past year. And also some 
less than reliable ones too.I'm just urging all who look for Perseids (or 
any other annual stream, for that matter) before the "official" start date, 
to be very sure of the radiant location, and take care in their 
observations. Be sure, Be very sure :-)
This is critical at such low rates.If this trend continues, perhaps the 
theoriticians will have to accept the challenge, and figure out why this is 
occuring. But accurate data is essential. You're "getting back on the 
bicycle", and know what to do. Others who are starting from scratch need to
make sure they know where the radiant is, and know what a fast meteor looks 
like. This can only come from seeing enough meteors to have seen slow and 
fast. Of course, August 11th and 12th is a great time to see fast ones!!
:-)

I'm not trying to make trouble here, just working toward quality for all.
Clear Skies
(C'mon cold front...help me Cathy, push it this way!

Wayne