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(meteorobs) Oct. 21 Meteor Observations
I observed with Joseph Assmus from the Descanso Observatory for 6 hours
this morning. I witnessed the strongest Orionid meteor shower I have
seen since 1974. A total of 129 Orionid meteors were seen with the
highest hourly total being 33. There were no Orionid fireballs as others
have reported but there were many colorful trained meteors in the -2 to
first magnitude range. The best one of the night may have also been one
of the shortest. It was a brilliant sapphire blue Orionid right out of
the radiant only 2 degrees long. It left a persistent train that lasted
4 seconds.
The Southern Taurids were not quite as active as the previous morning
but the Northern branch produced a bit more activity. The minor shower
Epsilon Geminids produced their usual lone meteor every two hours.
October 21, 1998
0700-0800 UT 1.00 6.25 1 EGE 2 NTA 3 ORI 3 STA 4 SPO 13 TOTAL
0800-0900 UT 1.00 6.25 0 EGE 2 NTA 14 ORI 1 STA 4 SPO 21 TOTAL
0905-1000 UT 1.00 6.17 1 EGE 2 NTA 29 ORI 1 STA 8 SPO 41 TOTAL
1000-1100 UT 1.00 6.15 1 EGE 0 NTA 33 ORI 4 STA 5 SPO 43 TOTAL
1100-1200 UT 1.00 6.18 0 EGE 0 NTA 27 ORI 3 STA 9 SPO 39 TOTAL
1200-1300 UT 1.00 5.98 0 EGE 0 NTA 23 ORI 0 STA 10 SPO 33 TOTAL
TOTALS: 6.00 6.17 3 EGE 6 NTA 129 ORI 12 STA 40 SPO 190 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 southeast at an altitude of 65 degrees. No breaks were
taken during this session. Data was recorded on tape using a cassette
recorder. 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: 38 F (3 C) 52%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 42 F (6 C) 47%
Yes the temperature again increased toward dawn!
MAGNITUDES:
EGE +3 (2) +5 (1) AVERAGE +3.67
NTA -1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (2) AVERAGE +3.00
ORI -2 (2) -1 (5) 0 (8) +1 (17) +2 (22) +3 (39) +4 (32)
+5 (4) AVERAGE +2.46
STA 0 (1) +1 (2) +2 (2) +3 (4) +4 (2) +5 (1) AVERAGE +2.58
SPO 0 (1) +1 (2) +2 (10) +3 (15) +4 (6) +5 (6) AVERAGE +3.02
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA
References: