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Re: (meteorobs) Some Unusual obs.



On Fri, 9 Apr 1999, Dave English wrote:

>      As for the Sprite, it was about 3 degrees long and 2 1/2 degrees
> high. They flash far above large thunderstorm masses like the kind we 
> can get on the tip of Baja to Hawaii storm track.

Must look for these the next time I'm up Mauna Kea.

>        The book I obtained the information in cited observations 
> dating back to 1890 by Denning who "observed 635 (telescopic meteors) 
> during 727 hour's sweeping." Is this a light pollution problem again 
> for the low rates today? Denning used a 10-inch reflector. "Alcock 
> recorded 201 between April 1 and October 11, 1964, using 25X105 and 
> 11X80 binoculars, which brought his total since the beginning of 1953 
> to 1,698." Muirden goes on and writes about the joys of seeing 
> satellites now and space junk during observation sessions. His book 
> was first published in 1968 when "at the end of August and the end of 
> September are active telescopically, with a number of faint streams, 
> many of which have probably not yet been identified." He writes about 
> a telescopic stream that occurs on 11 Dec "near the star 11 Canis 
> Minoris."    

Is that the "Observational Astronomy for Amateurs" by Sidgwick, later
revised by Jim Muirden?  The telescopic inoformation in there is quite
dated, but does have lots of references to early observations.  Serious
and systematic telescopic observations began in Czechoslovakia around
1950 with pioneers like the late Lubor Kresak.

The 11 Canis Minorids was one of Keith Hindley's---a former direcotr of
the British Astronomical Association Meteor Section---discoveries with
his 5-inch refractor back in 1964.  Yes there are lots of telescopic
activity in September, and showers to be discovered, no doubt.  I've
found one then myself.  Rates are comparatively high, it's not too cold
(northern hemisphere bias), and there are many fascinating showers. 
Many are in the Perseus, Auriga, Cassiopeia area. 

For general good rates, it's hard to beat the second week of December,
as the sporadic rate is still good, the Geminids always put on a fine
telescopic show, and there are several minor radiant contributing too.

Other neglected times like March and April can bring rewards too.
You never know what my turn up.  I myself found a strong telescopic
shower in March from Leo, which was unexpected. 

There is so much to learn about the minor showers, e.g. their number
against peak activity.  Observers in the southern hemisphere have the
whole book to write, we know so little.  That may be changing with the
Baggeley et al. radar system in New Zealand.

Malcolm
tele@imodot net

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