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(meteorobs) Re: Strong Meteor Rates



Interesting topic Wes.

Going back to 1966 I have seen shower rates of 100 or more on 16 
occasions. The strongest display was the 1977 Perseids when one hour 
produced 155 meteors. Of course I was clouded out for the 1994 Perseids
which would have surpassed that rate. 

Of the 16 occasions 9 have occurred during the Geminids (141/hr was the 
best in 1985), 6 have occurred during the Perseids, and one Quadrantid
hour produced 106 shower members back in 1985.

Checking the years, the 60's had none as I was too young to drive back 
then. The 70's had 5 occurrences, the 80's had 6 occurrences, and the
90's
have produced 5 occurrences when shower rates exceeded 100 meteors per
hour.

Bob Lunsford


whs@earthlingdot net wrote:
> 
> I've seen raw rates of over 100 several times during my short counting lifespan.  On 1994 August 12, I got 191 for an hour (179 Perseids and 22 others).  At least 1 and maybe 2 adjacent hours were over 100 as well.  In 1997, under exceptional skies, I got a peak of 134 (103 Perseids and 31 others), with rates just over 100 in the two hours following.  In 1996, I got one hour just barely over 100.  Other than the Perseids, my highest is 98 (73 Geminids and 25 others) in 1993.  So high rates do happen, the 1994 and 1997 Perseids obviously influenced by the presence of the new peak and all of these rates recorded in skies better than magnitude 6.5.
> 
> What are others' experiences with high rates?  I know a lot of people have seen bodacious Geminid displays recently (while I've been stuck in a city, usually under clouds).  A club member recently recalled seeing a Geminid outburst "sometime in the late 80's, when the rate was about 5 per minute for about an hour".  Which year might this have been?  I know the 1985 Geminid shower must have been something, because my dad took me out after midnight and I remember seeing a bunch of bright meteors AS A 12-YEAR-OLD, STANDING UP IN TEMPERATURES NEAR 0 F!
> 
>

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