[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
(meteorobs) Internet Message
Lew,
Visual observing and plotting is by no means an exact science. We do
the best we can and hope that our results make sense. Knowing this,
we cannot make any presumptions on just one or two meteors. A large
database of observations is necessary to reveal the true
characteristics of any particular shower. Most observers assign a
number such as 1 - 3 for accuracies of their data or plots. I have
gone a bit further and listed the distance of the midpoint for each
meteor form the center of my field of view (to the nearest 10
degrees). That way someone looking a my plot and data will realize
just how accurate the estimates (not just length) are. Needless to
say, meteors further out than 40 degrees from my FOV are rarely
plotted due to excessive inaccuracies leading to possible fictitious
radiants.
With regards to meteor magnitudes, I feel you are exercising a bit of
overkill here. It is difficult enough to arrive at an accurate
maximum magnitude for a phenomena that lasts less than one-half
second. To worry about the differences in flaring meteors verses
constant brightness is a bit beyond our control. Perhaps photographic
data can address this but I feel the visual observer has no choice
but to simply assign each meteor a maximum brightness without regard
to the physics of atmospheric interactions.
Just My Humble Opinion
Bob Lunsford