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(meteorobs) New Meteor Observer
Hi! My name is Sandra Macika. I just joined the meteorobs group, so I
thought I would introduce myself. I live in California and have been
interested in astronomy and meteors since I was in high school. I've
been on my own with my hobby until this past summer.
I went to the Summer visitor program that was held here at Lick
Observatory in July. Some amateur astronomers were set up in the back
and one invited me to go observing with The Astronomy Connection (TAC).
From there I got on an email list which is where I heard that Dr. Peter
Jenniskins needed help with the Perseids meteor campaign.
This year I have done formal meteor observing for the Perseids, 103P
Hartley 2, and Leonids for Dr. Peter. Attached is my report for the
Leonids. It is quite similar to Bob's since we were observing together.
Nice to meet you!
> WoW!!
>
> I had a great time at the Leonids observing campaign. I didn't see
> nearly as many meteors as the Perseids this year, but there were some
> great fireballs!
>
> There were six of us working together. Mike Koop and Peter Zarubin
> were working the cameras at the Goldstone Deep Space Tracking Station,
> which is about an hour and a half drive north of Barstow. Hans Betlem
> came over from the Netherlands, and he worked the cameras at Edwards
> AFB. At Goldstone, Bob Lunsford and Lance Benner did meteor reports,
> and I plotted meteors of magnitude +1 or greater.
>
> We had a great spot! It was hard to tell for sure with the bright
> moon, but it looked really dark! My limiting magnitude was 5.6 (using
> area three) - pretty respectable for a nearly full moon! The horizons
> were all completely flat! Lance works at JPL and was able to arrange
> for us to observe from the airstrip. It is restricted airspace so
> there was no worry of planes landing on us. He also gave us a quick
> tour of the seventy meter radio telescope that he uses for his
> asteroid work. Included with the meteor show was some kind of
> military bomb exercise. We would see the flashes to the East and then
> hear loud booms about twenty seconds later.
>
> Everyone was worried about the clouds. We drove down Saturday and saw
> nothing but clouds and rain. I wasn't worried. I asked for clear
> skies and by the time we got to Barstow it was beautifully clear! We
> did a warm-up Saturday night / Sunday morning. When we woke up Sunday
> afternoon, the sky was completely clouded over. I told all not to
> worry, but they didn't believe. We took a drive to Rainbow Canyon.
> It was gorgeous. I love the desert! Nobody but I appreciated the
> beautiful sunset. I said, "Don't worry, we have a lot of time." On
> cue, just after it got dark, the skies suddenly became perfectly
> clear.
>
> The camera set-ups were great, but it is clear that the project could
> use more funding. There are eight to ten cameras all mounted
> on a platform facing in every direction. A fan blade spins on top of
> it. The blades spin and block the view of the cameras. Because the
> blade is a fixed size and speed, the velocity of the meteor can be
> determined by looking at the developed film. Instead of a straight
> line, the meteor trail will be dashed. Because of the bright moon,
> Mike decided to advance the film every five minutes. I feel sorry
> that he and Peter had their fingers nicked several times while trying
> to advance the film.
>
> Hans had a nicer set-up. He had nice cameras with automatic film
> advance. He designed, built and purchased all with his own money. He
> teaches high school Physics in the Netherlands and often takes his
> students observing. They work on calculating the meteor orbits
> afterwards. Hans and I drove together for many hours. I spent a long
> time asking him about his country. We talked about crops, industry,
> land use, drugs, police, schools, etc.
>
> The highlight of the night was a great -8 fireball that left a train
> that lasted for two minutes! I saw the ground flash white and then
> looked up to see the train. It looked like a huge comet. I was so
> mad. That happened to me twice!
>
> The best part of the show started at 4:00 a.m. The guys doing the
> meteor reports were counting as many as sixty Leonids per hour. There
> were many more if you count the Taurids and sporadics. We had to stop
> at 5:30 a.m. because the sky was getting to bright for photography,
> but as we were cleaning up, -3's were dropping like flies.
>
> It was quite cold. Our lowest temperature reading was 25 degree F! I
> had great warm weather clothes though, so it wasn't too bad. My feet
> were cold, but I think I have a solution. Lance was shocked when he
> realized I had been taking off my moon boots every time I got into my
> sleeping bag! Next time I'll leave them on and I'm sure I will be
> okay. I wore thin long underwear, spandex pants and ski pants on the
> lower half of my body. On the upper half I had the long underwear, a
> thick sweater, a sweatshirt and my ski coat. I wore the hood to my
> sweatshirt, but could have used a better hat. I also need better
> gloves. I want to look for the sniper glove that Russell mentioned.
> I need to be able to flip though the sky charts quickly and plot the
> meteors.
>
> I saw some interesting satellites Monday morning at 5:20 a.m. near
> Polaris. One was magnitude two and the other magnitude three. They
> were to the right of Polaris, heading down and right. Craig Cholar,
the TAC
> resident satellite expert, explained what I saw:
> ----------
> From: Craig Cholar[SMTP:3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL]
> Sent: Monday, November 24, 1997 9:26 AM
> To: Sandra Macika
> Subject: Goldstone satellites
>
> Hi Sandra.
> I enjoyed your Goldstone meteor report; sounds like it was a lot of
> fun!
> You asked about two satellites near Polaris around 5:20am Monday
> morning (the 17th). I think I have two candidates. The brighter
> one was probably Lacrosse 2 Rocket, a spent upper stage booster that
> was launched in 1991. The dimmer object was likely a satellite called
> ERBS (Earth Radiation Budget Satellite), launched in Oct 1984 from the
> space shuttle Challenger, and from what I gather it is still
> operational
> even after 13 years in orbit. There's more info about ERBS at
>
> http://www.tele-satellite.com/tse/online/sat_erbs.html
>
> Since Lacrosse 2 was a classified mission, there's no info about it
> on the web.
>
> They both passed less than 10 degrees to the right of Polaris between
> 5:20 and 5:21, moving down and to the right. The crossed paths at
> about
> 5:20:20, then slowly moved further apart.
>
> Craig 3432P@VM1.CC.NPS.NAVY.MIL
>
>
> I learned several new star names. I was happy to see Canopus. I
> saw it on the horizon, but later could not find it. I was shocked
> that it just peeked up and then took a dive. I don't exactly get the
> concept. I will have to get a real star wheel and study.
>
> Next year the group is planning on observing from China. The best
> spot should be Thailand but that will be their rainy season. The Thai
> people call it the cold season, but that is a little misleading. It
> means that the temperature USUALLY stays below 100 F. I don't know
> how I might pay for the China trip, but I want to go. Maybe I should
> have cookie sales at Fremont Peak. Only ten dollars each! ;-) A
> hundred and fifty cookies and I'm there!
>
> Sandra