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(meteorobs) Re: NM 97Nov27/28 meteors normal
After 3.5 months I finally got out to the remote site (26.5N, 81.5W) 1997
Nov 27/28 for 3:58 hours and seeing 44 meteors. The encephalitis alert has
not been lifted yet, needing 3 straight weeks of negative testing first.
But there were only a handful of mosquitoes left. I was under a sheet and
half of a sleeping bag for cover so I was quite safe anyway. My 1959 bag
tore in half lengthwise a number of years ago but the halves are still
usable as blankets. It was a pleasantly cool night around 60F.
Times observed covered 126 - 530 EST (626 - 1030 UT) with a 6-minute break
the third hour. Local midnight occurs at 1226 AM. Total hourly rates (126
- 526) went 10,12,9,13 with the 3rd hour a little short. Showers seen were
3 South Taurids, 2 North Taurids, 1 Chi Orionid, 1 ambiguous South
Taurid/Chi Orionid, 3 Puppid-Velids, 2 Sigma Hydrids, 1 Leonid, and 31
sporadics. It was a very good night with LM7.4 the first hour and 7.3
thereafter. The hourly rates were very uniform although much of the meteor
action was very concentrated. There were 3 occasions of 5 meteors within
just 3 minutes followed by long dead spells.
Fog began forming in the second hour, got briefly bad starting the third
hour, then backed off quickly. When it got bad again I packed up to go,
then stood watching as it again backed off. That is the reason for the
break. After 20 minutes of stand-up watching a very light warm wind was
felt with sudden warming of about 5 degrees, and I watched the remaining fog
dissipate top-to-bottom completely in only 3 minutes. There was no more fog
after that. and I set up my pads again. This has to be my most unusual fog
experience.
The best meteor was an intense green -5m Puppid-Velid fireball with 1-second
train at 244 EST (744 UT). It was like one shot from a flare gun. That was
my first P-V fireball. The others were an orange -1m and a yellow 0m with
1-second train. The leftover Leonid was a yellow 0m, so swift and
classic-looking there is no doubt about its origin. The Taurids have not
quit yet either ; both branches were still around.
I did some plotting before the fog disruption. A poorly defined radiant
appears at 120, +4 ; only 3 degrees east of the expected Sigma Hydrid
radiant. I am rejecting this radiant because the plots don't have enough
divergence to really show the radiant. The speeds were also mixed : 2 were
medium and 2 fast. There were, however, a couple more distant meteors seen
that also came from this radiant, out of range of my plot chart. The
bunched appearance of so many meteors made it impossible to plot very many
of them. For 8 plots allow 12 seconds each for dead time. Most of the
plots were easy ones so the time is surely less than that.
Just seeing a dark sky after the long absence was a real pleasure. M35,
M44, and M41 were all substantially resolved. I can't count the individual
stars for they are too close together, but M44 seems to have about 20 stars
visible naked eye. Zodiacal light just before dawn was massive, with a base
40 degrees wide and the cone reaching almost to the zenith. The False Cross
was in full view as I quit with the bottom stars 5 degrees up due south.
Back on Nov 17 I was almost entirely clouded out. In a 15-minute break just
after 5 AM with half a field of view clear to my south, I saw 2 Leonids:
orange -2m and yellow -1m, but neither one had a train. The last one was
entirely below and left of Canopus, matching the star in both color and
magnitude.
Next week I am hoping for a clear evening so I can take my 12.5" reflector
to a gathering of kids and adults, to attempt seeing 7 planets and the moon
within a couple of hours.
Norman