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(meteorobs) Oct. 20 Meteor Observations
I observed with George Zay from the Descanso Observatory for slightly
under 7 hours. The Orionids put on a good show as 65 were seen during
the night. The Southern Taurids were also quite active with 14 members
being seen. The minor shower Epsilon Geminids averaged one member every
2 hours while the Northern Taurids were barely represented.
The highlight of the session was a -5 Orionid that shot downward just
east of Sirius and Canis Major and left a train that was faintly visible
for 25 seconds. Many of the Southern Taurids were brightly colored
orange meteors travelling long distances across the sky.
One final note was an impressive display of zodiacal light. The zodiacal
band stretched all the way from Leo up to western Gemini where it met
the winter Milky Way and formed an inverted "V" in the southeastern sky.
October 20, 1998
0615-0700 UT 0.75 6.32 0 EGE 0 NTA 3 ORI 3 STA 3 SPO 9 TOTAL
0700-0800 UT 1.00 6.26 1 EGE 0 NTA 6 ORI 3 STA 6 SPO 16 TOTAL
0800-0900 UT 1.00 6.24 0 EGE 1 NTA 12 ORI 4 STA 4 SPO 21 TOTAL
0905-1000 UT 0.92 6.18 0 EGE 0 NTA 14 ORI 2 STA 8 SPO 24 TOTAL
1000-1100 UT 1.00 6.17 2 EGE 0 NTA 13 ORI 1 STA 14 SPO 30 TOTAL
1100-1200 UT 1.00 6.13 0 EGE 1 NTA 12 ORI 1 STA 16 SPO 30 TOTAL
1200-1300 UT 1.00 5.94 1 EGE 0 NTA 5 ORI 0 STA 11 SPO 17 TOTAL
TOTALS: 6.67 6.17 4 EGE 2 NTA 65 ORI 14 STA 62 SPO 147 TOTAL
The first column is the period watched in Universal Time (PDT + 7hours).
The second column is the percent of an hour actually spent watching the
sky during this period. Time is lost for breaks, plotting, and data
entry. The third column is the average limiting magnitude during each
period with a minimum of 4 estimates. The last columns list the activity
seen during each period.
I was facing east at an altitude of 60 degrees from 0615 to 0900 UT.
From 0905 to 1300 I was facing southeast at an altitude of 65 degrees. A
5 minute break was taken between 0900 and 0905 to change positions. EGE
=
Epsilon Geminid, NTA = Northern Taurid (in Aries), ORI = Orionid, STA =
Southern Taurid (also in Aries), and SPO = SPORADIC (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 46 F (8 C) 37%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 51 F (11 C) 32%
Yes the temperature actually increased toward dawn!
MAGNITUDES:
EGE +2 (2) +3 (1) +4 (1) AVERAGE +2.75
NTA +4 (2) AVERAGE +4.00
ORI -5 (1) -1 (1) 0 (10) +1 (10) +2 (11) +3 (13) +4 (12)
+5 (6) +6 (1) AVERAGE +2.29
STA -1 (1) 0 (1) +1 (1) +2 (5) +3 (4) +5 (2) AVERAGE +2.29
SPO 0 (3) +1 (9) +2 (16) +3 (13) +4 (15) +5 (4) +6 (2) AVERAGE
+2.77
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA
References: