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(meteorobs) Observation May 14/15 1999



Wow,

A few days later, I found myself at a VERY different location, with an
experience I won't soon forget! On May 14/15, I travelled two hours out of
the city to join a number of other observers, all with large aperture
telescopes. The location itself is called Foymount and at nearly 2000 feet,
it is apparently the highest populated point in eastern Ontario, western
Quebec and upstate New York. Some of the roads to get there are among the
steepest I have seen! Yet, this site seemed so promising, I did not want to
miss such an oppurtunity!

Upon arriving at the very peak of Foymount, I discovered one of the most
memorable daytime views I have ever seen. With a wide open area, the
distance the eye could see was incredible from that altitude. I also
noticed how the air felt noticably thinner than usual. So we all set up our
gear and telescopes on a flat and unused parking lot that would allow us a
good view of most of the sky. As we waited for the Sun to set, we took the
time to examine some other potential sites around. One very promising site
lies slightly lower on a hill, and is of walking distance and even car
accessible. Lots of space for many telescopes and sky is wide open, without
any kind of lights visible from any distances. The Foymount area was used
many years ago for all kinds of research (Defense and radar, UFOs, etc...).
Many facilities there were active during the Cold War. All this has since
been all abandoned. The local population has been decreasing ever since.

Anyhow, I then spent the first part of the evening observing with a variety
of scopes (from 5inch refractor to 25inch Dobsonian and others). As the sky
got darker, the seeing was the finest I have ever seen. High power images
of Mars were stunning, and darker skies gave spectacular views of all kinds
of deep sky targets. Venus seemed to cast a very strong naked eye glare
that was almost annoying.

I began meteor observing just before midnight and did over 3 hours and a
half of actual teff. The sky was indeed spectacular with my limiting
magnitude reaching 6.9 (possibly even better close to zenith). The only
trace of light pollution was Ottawa with a glow extending no more than 10
degrees above eastern horizon. We could see some ground level fog
developping as the night progressed, but it was so far below us, it never
became a concern. Overhead, the Milky Way shined in all its glory and
glowed brilliantly all across. All the nebulae in Sagittarius appeared as
obvious fuzzy patches and the North American nebula stood out easily. It
was a challenge to plot meteors, as I had to get used to seeing so many
faint stars! What a night! The conditions were all marvelous...no wind, no
bugs and very comfortable temperature. Sleeping bag was not even necessary.
It was one of these rare "everything perfect" nights that happen maybe once
or twice a year. I find myself fortunate to be within 2 hours driving time
from such a pristine location!


Despite the conditions, meteor activity was quite "average". I saw a total
of 34 meteors (25 plotted successfully). The third hour jumped to 13
meteors seen (from only 6 the previous hour). The very first meteor was a
nice magnitude +3 Alpha Scorpiid. The second hour had one more ASC, then
they were gone. All other meteors were sporadics. Two meteors during the
last hour had very swift velocity and initially seemed to be possible Eta
Aquarids. After checking the plots, I realized they radiated from
Capricornus instead. So instead, they might be possible May Capricornids.
Again that night, no meteors got any brigther than magnitude +2. Lots of
faint stuff. Only three meteors produced one second or less trains.

The highlight of the night was a faint magnitude +4 sporadic, moving fairly
fast, and producing a nice wake (or short train) behind!

Morning twilight was first detected at 3:30 EDT (local time), and I signed
off the session 40 minutes later. Overall, it was a very enjoyable,
unforgettable night. The long drive was well worth it! Here is summary of
data below from that night. Full reports and plotting charts sent to Bob
Lunsford and Mark Davis at NAMN.

Pierre


DATE: May 14/15 1999
BEGIN: 3:40 UT (23:40 EDT)  END: 8:10 UT (4:10 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -77.304 West; Lat: 45.431 North  Elevation:1850feet
City & Province: Foymount, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking watch/tape recorder
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS: 3-letter code;         	   radiant position
                  ASC (Alpha Scorpiids)(SAG)       243 -21
		  WCA (May Capricornids)	   21h00 -22
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)    FIELD   Teff   F      LM    SPO  ASC
3:40-4:42     SE60    1.00   1.00   6.6    6    1
4:42-5:53     "       1.06   "      6.7    5    1
6:29-7:35     "       1.01   "      6.8   13    0
7:35-8:10     "       0.56   "      6.5    8    0
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:               3.63                32    2  =  34
--------------------------------------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER +2  +3  +4  +5

SPO     7   9  10   6
ASC     0   1   1   0
---------------------
TOTALS: 7  10  11   6
---------------------

SKY OBSCURED: none
---------------------------------

Total dead time: 15.95 minutes
Dead time plots: 10.2 minutes
Breaks: 5:26-5:31, 5:53-6:29
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