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Re: (meteorobs) Re: Leonid Meteor Storm Observed
>How were the meteors recorded? Were they getting the impression that they
were
>seeing this many or were they somehow recording them
This post by Fitzsimmons (one of the group in the Canaries) came across
USENET (sci.astro.amateur):
Dear All,
Having heard some other reports of meteor counts, I
thought that I had better make clear how we counted
on La Palma, so that people compare like with like.
When it became obvious we had major activity, we
realised that we should make some kind of count. However
we did not know how to make estimates of ZHR's and
other associated parameters. So we used the simplest
obvious solution. As there were about 6 of us, we arranged
ourselves so that we could see most of the sky between us.
Then over a timed two-minute period we simply shouted
out counts when a meteor was seen. Multiplying by 30 gave us
the rough estimate of the number that could be observed
per hour over the whole sky.
So the ~1000 per hour we saw at 03:40 UT and the ~2000
per hour at 04:30 UT are if you could see the entire sky at
once. A single observer would see less than this, by perhaps
a factor 3-4.
A few personal comments now that we have some more time:
A colleague went outside for a smoke at around 05:15 UT, and
only got halfway through his cigarette before he'd seen 35
meteors, mostly fireballs. I went out again at 05:50, and on
average could see a meteor every 2-3 seconds. You would get a
gap for perhaps 10 seconds, then 3 would occur almost
simultaneously, quickly followed by another. Before this
peak we had certainly got the impression that sometimes they
came in bunches, but I guess it could be Poisson statistics,
or chance as it's better known.
As with the other observers, we found the colours stunning.
Bright green trails, with orange-red heads. A few has vivid
violet colours. The flashes easily cast shadows, but remember
that we were dark adapted under clear skies at 8,000 ft.
For some reason, many of the meteors we observed were at low
altitude near the horizon. But even that was great, as people
saw the reflection of the fireballs on the ocean.
I cannot describe the simple joy that everyone outside felt
at witnessing this spectacle. Reactions ranged from silent
appreciation to almost maniacal laughter.
I saw two radiant fireballs, coming at us almost head on, but I
missed a third as I was inside at the time). Watching the ion
trails bend in the middle due to upper-atmosphere winds was
fantastic. One near the sickle in Leo lasted long enough
to appear almost corkscrew shaped from our viewpoint.
The last meteor we saw was at 07:25 against the bright twilight sky
in the west, just a few minutes before sunrise. We were driving
down from the telescopes to the residencia where we sleep, and
it appeared right in front of us throught the car windshield.
A wonderful night.
Regards,
Alan Fitzsimmons and the rest of us who included Don Pollacco,
Mike Evans, Clive Tadhunter, Chris Packham, Frank Gribben,
Don Davis, Steve Howell, Neil O'Mahoney and others
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