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(meteorobs) Observation Apr. 23/24 in Xinglong




It was overcast here during the Lyrids maximum, so I decided to start my
first meteor observation of this year in the early morning of Apr. 24,
which was my brithday.

I took a nap after midnight, and got up and went out the dome at 02:25 local
time (which was Apr. 23 18:25 UT). A meteor appeared just after I went out 
the door and watched the sky on my way to the roof. There were clouds in
low horizon to the east and the north, but was quite clear to south and
zenith. The Milky Way could be seen clearly, but of course no shadow could
be left... I spent 20 minutes to learn the constellations in this season,
radiant positions, and star count areas, and saw another 3 meteors (some
might be LYR) and 1 satellite before I started my session at 02:45.

The overall LM was 5.5, which was not bad for me in this site. It was
not cold and was much comfortable than my previous experiences in last
winter. However, the humidity was as high as 100%. The oriange cover of
George's Guidebook was full of dew drops when I left the roof at 04:00.

Quick summary is:

Apr. 23/24 1845-2000 UT  Teff=1.15  LM=5.5  F=1.00  LYR(2) SAG(0) SPO(9)

No bright meteor was observed, although amateurs coming for Lyrids
photographs told me that they saw one -5 and at least two -3. They started
before midnight, but I think that most of their camaras were covered by
water. Two faint SPO came out simultaneously at 03:07, quite fast, in
parallel paths but quite seperated. At 03:36, two bright (+3) satellites
coming from south to north in same direction and quite near path, one 
follow another in 30 seconds, and the second one run a little faster,
looking like it was going to catching the previous one. Detail report is
as following.

***************************
NAMN VISUAL SUMMARY REPORT
***************************
DATE: April 23/24, 1999                BEGIN: 18:45 UT    END: 20:00 UT
OBSERVER: Jin Zhu (ZHUJI)
LOCATION: Long: 117 d 34' 42" East; Lat: 40 d 23' 47" North
Place: Xinglong, Hebei, CHINA       Elevation: 860 m.
RECORDING METHOD: Tape Recorder

---------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVED SHOWERS: 3-letter code; radiant position; radiant diameter

LYR ; RA 18h 12m  DEC +34 deg.; 
SAG ; RA 15h 16m  DEC -19 deg.; 

---------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen;    / = shower not watched.

PERIOD(UT)  FIELD   Teff   F     LM   LYR   SAG   SPO
18:45-20:00 S60     1.15   1.00  5.5   2     0     9               
-----------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS              1.15               2     0     9

---------------------------------------------------------------------
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER   -7  -6  -5  -4  -3  -2  -1  0  +1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6  TOTAL
LYR       0   0   0   0   0   0   0  0   0   0   1   1   0   0    2
SAG       0   0   0   0   0   0   0  0   0   0   0   0   0   0    0
SPO       0   0   0   0   0   0   0  1   2   2   0   4   0   0    9
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Total     0   0   0   0   0   0   0  1   2   2   1   5   0   0   11
---------------------------------------------------------------------
SKY OBSCURED:
      __0__%  
FROM: 18:45 UT
  TO: 20:00 UT

---------------------------------------------------------------------
DEAD TIME: None
BREAKS: 19:38-19:44
---------------------------------------------------------------------
LIMITING MAGNITUDE:

          STAR      STAR
TIME      AREA      COUNT     LM
18:54      13         8       5.7
19:02      13         8       5.7
19:22      13         8       5.7
19:49      13         8       5.7
18:59      13         6       5.0
       
MEAN LIMITING MAGNITUDE: 5.7

---------------------------------------------------------------------
METEOR DATA:

#  TIME(UT)  MAG  VEL.  COLOR  SHOWER  TRAIN  MAP  ACCURACY
---------------------------------------------------------------------
1   18:54     +1   2      w     SPO     0.5s 
2   19:02     +3   4      w     LYR
3   19:07     +4   4      w     SPO
4   19:07     +4   4      w     SPO
5   19:09     +4   5      w     SPO
6   19:18     +2   5      w     SPO     1s
7   19:29     +0   4      w     SPO     0.5s
8   19:30     +2   2      w     SPO
9   19:38     +4   4      w     SPO
10  19:45     +4   5      w     LYR
11  19:54     +1   5      w     SPO
   
VELOCITY (VEL.) SCALE:
0 = Stationary
1 = Very Slow
2 = Slow
3 = Medium
4 = Fast
5 = Very Fast

---------------------------------------------------------------------
REMARKS:

---------------------------------------------------------------------
<END OF REPORT>


Original records:


#  TIME(UT) SHOWER MAG SPEED TRAIN(SEC) MEM

   18:45 start
   FOV: S, 70.
   showers: LYR, SAG
   LM: 13/8, 14/5
   FOV: SW, 60.
   LM: 13/9
01 18:54 SPO +1 2 0.5s ETA?
   LM: 13/8
   FOV: Zenith, SW.
   LM: 14/8
02 19:02 LYR +3 4
   LM: 13/8
03 19:07 SPO +4 4
04 19:07 SPO +4 4
05 19:09 SPO +4 5
   19:18 satellite +4 fast crossing BeiMian SW->NE
06 19:18 SPO +2 5 1s
   19:22 LM: 13/9 14/8-9
07 19:29 SPO +0 4 0.5s
08 19:30 SPO +2 2      slightly curve? ETA?
   19:31 LM: 14/8
   19:36 bright satellite, S->N. +3, slow
   19:36 another satellite, S->N. near previous one, +3, faster
09 19:38 SPO +4 4 
   19:38 pause (change filter for Schmidt non-meteor observation)
   19:44 resume
10 19:45 LYR +4 5
   19:49 LM: 13/8 14/7
11 19:54 SPO +1 5
   19:56 satellite +2 SW->NE
   19:59 LM: 14/6 13/6
   20:00 end   humidity=100%   temperature=10.8 (degree C)
========================================================================
Jin Zhu                           | Tel.: +86-10-62759888 (O)
Beijing Astronomical Observatory  |       +86-10-68392030 (H)
Chinese Academy of Sciences       |       +86-314-5054767 (Schmidt dome)
P. R. China                       | Fax : +86-10-62759888 or 64888731
------------------------------------------------------------------------
email: zj@bac.pkudot edu.cn or jinzhu@sun.ihep.ac.cn
WWW Home Page: http://vega.bac.pkudot edu.cn/~zj
Pager: zhu@mail.263dot net.cn (only Sub. line) OR +86-10-64256688 PIN 82333
========================================================================
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