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Re: (meteorobs) Astronomy vs. TV
> GZ writ:
> >I think I will call this "shower" the Jonathanids.
>
> I think that is an excellent idea; it can be used as a lesson to others :->
How about the upsilon Jonathanids? (-:
Estimating fireball brightnesses is very difficult even for
experienced observers. Some observers can't account for the brilliant
terminal flashes, hence underestimate; while others forget that the
scale is logarithmic and overestimate. For a given fireball the range
of visual estimates can vary by hundreds of times. -15 is ten times
brighter than the full moon and would be noticed by Joe Public. The
ground would be strongly illuminated.
In many thousands of hours' observing, my brightest is -12 (confirmed
photographically).
Malcolm
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