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(meteorobs) Nov 15 & 16 Meteor Observations
For those of you who are surprised to hear from me, my trip to the
Mojave Desert was canceled due to illness to Dave Holman and the
threat of cloudy skies.
On Sunday morning I observed from the Descanso Observatory for 4 hours.
The Northern Taurids were still going strong but the Leonids were
playing hard to catch. Other than seeing 2 Leonids within 5 seconds and
another a minute later, only 4 more were seen the entire morning. I
hit a real dead spot during the 3rd hour when only 6 meteors were seen.
This was somewhat of a disappointing night.
November 15, 1998
0930-1030 UT 0.94 6.49 0 LEO 3 NTA 0 STA 7 SPO 10 TOTAL
1030-1130 UT 0.95 6.39 0 LEO 2 NTA 2 STA 6 SPO 10 TOTAL
1130-1230 UT 0.97 6.16 3 LEO 0 NTA 0 STA 3 SPO 6 TOTAL
1230-1330 UT 0.95 5.66 4 LEO 1 NTA 0 STA 7 SPO 12 TOTAL
TOTALS: 3.81 6.17 7 LEO 6 NTA 2 STA 23 SPO 38 TOTAL
The first column is the period watched in Universal Time (PDT + 8
hours). 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
several columns list the activity seen during each period.
I was facing southeast at an altitude of 70 degrees. No breaks were
taken during this session. LEO = Leonid, NTA = Northern Taurid, STA =
Southern Taurid, and SPO = SPORADIC (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 34 F (1 C) 52%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 33 F (1 C) 62%
MAGNITUDES:
LEO +1 (1) +2 (3) +3 (2) +4 (1) AVERAGE +2.43
NTA 0 (1) +2 (2) +3 (2) +4 (1) AVERAGE +0.90
STA +3 (2) AVERAGE +3.00
SPO -3 (1) -1 (1) 0 (2) +1 (1) +2 (7) +3 (7) +4 (3) +5 (1)
AVERAGE +2.13
On Monday morning I observed with George Zay from the Descanso
Observatory for 4 hours. What a difference a day makes! We witnessed
one of the most impressive display of fireballs ever seen in these
parts!
Rates were good as soon as I started counting at 1:15am. Most of the
early Leonid activity was in the +1 to 0 magnitude range. At 2:00 the
fireballs started arriving. A -5 blue Leonid with a 6 second train was
the first. 30 minutes later another -5 and a -4 occurred in quick
secession. At 2:46 a -3 shot forth and just before 3:00 a tremendous
-8 shot over my left shoulder to the northwest leaving a 30 second
train. Five minutes later a -4, then a -6, and another -4 occurred.
At 3:19 a brilliant yellow -7 Leonid again shot in the northwest
leaving a two minute train. It was fairly quiet until 3:46 when
another brilliant -8 blue-green Leonid appeared and left a 90 second
train. Two minutes later a -3 appeared. Just before 4:00 another
tremendous Leonid shot toward the southwest horizon. It disappeared
just above the horizon in a brilliant blue flash equal to the full
moon. The train was an impressive -8 before quickly fading. It looked
much like a glowing pole jutting from the horizon. At 4:19 a -3
appeared and at 4:28 a -5 and a -6 appeared just a few seconds apart.
At 4:45 a another bright blue flash occurred high in the northern sky,
the result of a -10 blue Leonid. The resulting train lasted 5 full
minutes. Just 4 minutes later a most unforgettable sight occurred. A
Leonid shot through Cancer straight overhead and let forth a burst
that obliterated the stars above. The most brilliant blue flash
filled the sky above lighting up the countryside to twilight
conditions. The meteor was estimated at -16 and left a twisted train
that endured for 11 minutes. What a fantastic sight!!! Another -4
occurred at 4:54 and the last two Leonid fireballs (both -3)
appeared at 5:10 and 5:16.
It's now nearly 3 hours later and I am still trying to recover from
the excitement. On the drive home another Leonid fireball was seen in
the bright twilight. A DJ at the radio station I was listening to
commented on seeing a tremendous flash in the sky while driving to
work. Several callers to the radio station also commented on the
bright meteors.
It was truly a night to remember and what will tomorrow behold???
November 16, 1998
0915-1021 UT 1.00 6.24 11 LEO 4 NTA 11 SPO 24 TOTAL
1021-1127 UT 1.00 6.12 18 LEO 2 NTA 13 SPO 33 TOTAL
1127-1231 UT 1.00 5.99 37 LEO 3 NTA 8 SPO 48 TOTAL
1231-1325 UT 0.87 5.77 23 LEO 1 NTA 7 SPO 31 TOTAL
TOTALS: 3.87 6.03 89 LEO 10 NTA 39 SPO 138 TOTAL
The first column is the period watched in Universal Time (PDT + 8
hours). 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
several columns list the activity seen during each period.
I was facing east at an altitude of 70 degrees. No breaks were taken
during this session. LEO = Leonid, NTA = Northern Taurid, and SPO =
SPORADIC (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 36 F (2 C) 34%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 37 F (3 C) 27%
MAGNITUDES:
LEO -16 (1) -12 (1) -10 (1) -8 (2) -7 (1) -6 (2)
-5 (3) -4 (4) -3 (5) -2 (5) -1 (4) 0 (16) +1 (21)
+2 (15) +3 (4) +4 (4) AVERAGE -0.61
NTA -2 (1) -1 (1) 0 (1) +1 (2) +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (3)
AVERAGE +1.60
SPO 0 (2) +1 (4) +2 (7) +3 (12) +4 (12) +5
(2)
AVERAGE +2.87
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA
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