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(meteorobs) July 18/19 1998 observation
Hello al,
(Welcome back Cathy and Kim!)
A few of us in Ottawa, ON. went to investigate a new dark observing
site the night of 18/19. The site in question is south-east of the city
near a small town called Casselman. For me, this is an easier site
to get to and takes only about 40 minutes from my home. A few kilometers
before arriving, we can conveniently stop for a variety of fast food and
donuts. The site is in a pit quarry, situated on a hill. It is very safe
because it is on private property. There is only cows but they cant come
anywhere close to us. The farmer is giving us full permission to go and
observe at all times. This site used to be very unsuitable because of
hills making any driving impossible. With the help of a bulldozer, the
site was flattened and cars can now easily drive in. In the near future,
the site will be further enlarged to accomodate a permanent 20 feet
diameter observatory.
As the other observers were busy with loads of sticky (but tasty!) donuts
and chatted, I lied down on my lounge chair to observe meteors. I
observed
almost 3 hours (2.89 teff) under clear skies and limiting magnitude that
touched 6.45 at best. The night was not all perfect though, since thin
haze developped near the horizons late at night. A brisk wind was also
constant. The sky seems a bit better than the other one near Winchester,
ON. I did notice a few small light pollution domes from distant towns.
The north is still heavily washed out by nearby Cassleman and Ottawa in
the background. I dont mind the light pollution in the north since I
rarely face that way.
Acivity was quite good with total 37 meteors (12 plotted). My best hour
produced 16 meteors. Besides good sporadic rates, Perseids were quite
active when the radiant climbed higher. The Alpha Cygnids were active
with 2 seen the first hour, and 1 more the second hour. The South Delta
Aquarids dominated the southern complexe. Finally, Alpha Capricornids,
North Delta Aquarids and the July Pegasids all produced 1 meteor during
my watch. Nothing was seen coming from or near Ursa Major. My rates
dropped
a bit the last hour because of low thin haze and the moonrise,
effectively
reducing my limiting magnitude.
The highlights were 3 meteors of magnitude 0; a 12d long Perseid with
a 1 sec train, plus a slow sporadic and fairly fast SDA, both producing
wakes.
Here an overview of my data below. Full report and plots will be sent to
Robert Lunsford and Mark Davis at NAMN.
DATE: July 18/19 1998 BEGIN: 2:40 UT END: 5:50 UT
LOCATION: Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North Elevation: 150m
City & Province: Casselman, Ontario, CAN
PERIOD(UT) FIELD Teff F LM SPO PER ACY SDA CAP NDA JPE
2:40-3:43 NE70d 0.98 1.00 6.33 8 0 2 0 1 0 0
3:43-4:55 " 1.03 " 6.45 8 4 1 2 0 1 0
4:55-5:50 SE70d 0.88 " 6.35 6 2 0 1 0 0 1
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Totals: 2.89 22 6 3 3 1 1 1 = 37
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6
SPO 1 1 2 7 3 7 1
PER 1 0 1 1 2 1 0
ACY 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
SDA 1 0 0 2 0 0 0
CAP 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
NDA 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
JPE 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
---------------------------------
Totals: 3 1 4 10 9 9 1
Total dead time: 17.5 min
Breaks: none
. . . .
Pierre Martin . . * . * . .
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Ottawa Valley Observers Group . . . . . .
Visual meteor observer . . . . -* .
Ottawa, Ontario, CAN . . . . .
home: p.martin@cyberusdot ca / . . . .
***************************** * . . .
Graphic Designer . | .
National Aviation Museum | \
work: pmartin@nmstcdot ca * . \
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*