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(meteorobs) Observation Jan 25/26 1999
Hello,
Last Monday night (Jan 25/26), I headed out to Casselman for my first
observation of the year. Skies were crystal clear all evening, and the
forecast also looked promising. It would be my first opportunity to go out
after weeks of poor weather conditions. So I napped in the evening to wait
for the moon to go down. I began observing later in the morning at 7:15 UT
(2:15 EST) until 9:30 UT (4:30 EST) for a total of 1.69 effective observing
time (teff). Considerable teff was lost since I wanted to plot nearly
everything I saw. Plotting took from about 1 minute to 2 minutes per
meteor. Sometimes even more. It was difficult to plot and be organized
while all wrapped up in thick winter gear. I don't remember how many times
I dropped pencils and tapes on the snow and struggled to find it, all while
trying to keep my hands warm from a -13C nighttime temperature!
Despite this, it was an enjoyable night. Skies remained mostly clear all
night, with only some occasional thin cirrus moving around. Limiting
magnitude at nearly 6.1. Activity was quite decent for a late January
night. Time went by rather quickly. I plotted 20 meteors out of the 27
total observed. The activity I was after were some minor showers; Delta
Cancrids (DCA), Alpha Hydrids (AHY), Alpha Leonids (ALE) and Coma
Berenicids (COM). I also plotted to see if there would be any possible Xi
Bootids (XBO). Well, it turned out the only shower meteor I could confirm
was one COM. Only one meteor came close to the DCA radiant, but it is so
far from it that it is far more likely a sporadic. However, I did plot a
number of meteors coming from around Bootes. I have no idea where the
possible XBO radiant is located at this time. I plotted four medium speed
meteors that seem to indicate a radiant near 13:55 +22. This is obviously
quite a small number of meteors, but could this location make sense for the
XBO radiant ?
Nothing got brighter than magnitude -1, no fireballs. Still, there was one
highlight. The most impressive meteor was at 8:16 UT, when only 20 degrees
over the south, a VERY slow moving meteor of magnitude +1 took a full 4-5
seconds to crawl along a 15 degrees path! A nice trail followed behind, as
it traveled east going parallel to the horizon.
I will probably not observe again until at least the next dark moonless
window in about a couple weeks.
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
DATE: January 25/26 1999
BEGIN: 7:15 UT (2:15 EST) END: 9:30 UT (4:30 EST)
LOCATION: Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North Elevation:100m
City & Province: Casselman, Ontario, CANADA
---------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen; / = shower not watched.
PERIOD(UT) FIELD Teff F LM SPO COM
7:15-8:35 SE70 0.99 1.00 6.08 13 1
8:35-9:30 " 0.70 1.005 6.08 13 0
-------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 1.69 26 1 = 27
-------------------------------------------------------
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
SPO 1 2 2 2 7 10 2
COM 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
---------------------------------
Totals: 1 2 2 2 7 11 2
---------------------------------
SKY OBSCURED: (cirrus)
3% from UT 8:37 to 8:46 UT
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total dead time: 33.5 minutes
Dead time plots: 20 plots --> 1.5 min each (approx)
Breaks: 8:43 UT (0.5 min)
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