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Re: (meteorobs) Re: Wes' mag. distribution (was: Perseids Aug. 11/12)

On Wed, 13 Aug 1997, Casper ter Kuile wrote:

> Hello Wes,
> 
> In addition, you have more
> very bright one's deep into the negative magnitudes. That is due to you
> observing the short 'new peak' that is rich in such very bright meteors.
> 

Yes, I noted this in 1994 when we got the brunt of the new peak.  I expect
the Perseid r and thus the mean magnitude to vary.  I think I probably
1) missed quite a few faint meteors; and 2) may have estimated some of the
fainter ones I saw as too bright.  I didn't have designated comparison
stars for 5th and 6th magnitude.  Perhaps including the 
Aquarids/Capricornids and Kappa Cygnids in the Sporadics led to part of
the discrepancy as well.  In the field, I noted 2 KCGs, plus 18 "Aqr" that
could have come from one of the Aquarid/Capricornid radiants.  (Or, maybe
some of them didn't and some other "sporadics" did, since this area was so
far from my field center).  

> By the way, what I forgot to mention in my earlier mail: why characterize
> your data as 'frustrating' as you did in your header?  Nearly 500 meteors
> seems a very fine share to me and many observers would actually wish to
> have such numbers!

I meant it sort of tongue-in-cheek.  The observing experience was
definitely not frustrating at all, but I wanted to start picking apart my
observations before someone else did.  What's more frustrating is what Lew
and others went through:  poor weather on big nights.  I should know.
There were about 2 or 3 partially clear nights in Portland from early
October to mid-January last year, so I missed reportedly good displays of
the Orionids, Leonids (it snowed), Geminids (I got in a few hours in
partly cloudy city muck, averaging 12/hr), and Quadrantids.  Perseids,
though.  The Oregon clouds always seem to part for the Perseids.  This
makes five years straight that maximum night has been clear for me.  My
interests in amateur astronomy run to areas besides meteor observing, and
I apportion my clear nights to cover the bases, but if there's a major
shower around, I make it a target.

--
Wes Stone <wstone@lclarkdot edu>  Lewis and Clark College, Portland, OR
                 SKYTOUR Amateur Astronomy Hypertext:
          http://www.lclarkdot edu/~wstone/skytour/skytour.html
References: