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(meteorobs) Meteor Observations Nov 12/13, 1998 ZAYGE

From Descanso, California

Welp! I started last nights observation a little early so that I can get in on
the Taurid activity. I plotted most of everything except a few problematic
sightings due to multiple events.  I started at 8pm and observed until 10 pm.
Then took a 1.5 hour nap and started up again at 11:30 pm till 5 am. After
it's all said and done, I should have a Teff near 6.5 hours. My LM until the
moon rose was near 6.0 and afterwards around 5.5. The skies were clear all
night, but mighty cold for a prune picker. Bob said it got down to 28 F.
That's a monkey factor of 2 if I remember correctly? Anyhow, each time I
climbed down off the observatory roof, I had to be very careful. It was like
walking on an ice skating rink. The Taurids were indeed active. I recorded a
total of 23 Taurids with 5 being of the South Branch and 18 the Northern one.
A couple of the S. Taurids are most likely Northerners, but that is the way
they lined up with my plots of which some I didn't get very good looks at.
The Leonids are also showing signs of life. I plotted 8 of those critters as
well as 23 sporadics. The brightest meteors were a -6 STA (which is most
likely an NTA. I saw this low on my horizon and far from the radiant. A slight
misalignment can easily made this either a North or South Taurid. It just so
happened it appeared closer to the south from my initial alignment.) Other
bright meteors were a -3 S. Taurid (which I'm fairly confident was a S. Taurid
and not a Northerner) and four -2 NTA's. I was operating two wide angle
camera's. I might have caught on film two of the -2 NTA's and the -3 STA?
Won't know until I develop the film. Oh! I almost forgot, I'm rather certain
that I saw a +1 sporadic point meteor.  There were also a lot of satellite
flashing going on. You had to really pay attention to what you were seeing to
not mistake them for pointers. My next night of observing...weather permitting
is on sunday night into monday morning. I got to work tomorrow and then take a
few days off to see the peak leonid activity. The guys at work sure love it
when a major shower falls on my work day..dot it's overtime for them. 
George Zay
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