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Re: (meteorobs) Re: Automated video detection of meteors
sirko>> Well folks, if _you_ promise to observe next February 10 hours each
> night at -10 deg centigrade, full moon, and minimum sporadic activity,
> I'll switch off my system. :-)<<
me>> In other words, since you have this period well covered and a lot more
> accurately, I probably shouldn't bother if the mood for visual recording
was
> there?<<
sirko>>when it's nighttime for you, it's daytime for me...<<
yes true, I was genericly thinking about a worldwide video system already in
place.
sirko>>What do you expect me to do? Shall I stop using a video system only
not to
discourage visual meteor observers? Would you forbid to use photocameras
not to discourage visual observers of deep-sky objects? Would you stop
builing spacecrafts like Galileo only not to discourage visual planetary
observers?<<
No I don't expect you to stop using a video system....I expect you to
continue..dot it's only a natural progression to expand to video. I'm only
saying that as the video camera comes into more usage, data from a visual
meteor observer becomes less useful. Not too many visual observers are able
to make significant contributions compared to the use of modern equipment.
They become essentially spectators. As for building spacecrafts like Galileo,
again very little is gained from the long efforts of visual planetary
observers compared to the relatively short periods of exploration done by
various space probes. The big claim to fame that meteor observing has had for
a long while is that it was one of the last areas where you as a visual
observer can significantly contribute to science by simply recording what you
see with your eyeballs. Now with the advent of video, this claim is on the
verge of no longer being valid.
sirko>>That's certainly not the way scientific progress is made. And that's
what
we are looking for: New insight into meteor showers, their
properties and evolution. Or am I wrong?<<
Nope, you are not wrong. You are only stating what I've been saying....out
with the old and in with the new. In this case it's out with the data from
the visual meteor recorder in favor of the video recorder.
sirko>>The plain fact is that people do _not_ watch in cold February nights
with
full moon, simply because it's no fun.<<
The plain fact is very few people watch on any nights other than during
periods of major shower activity with nights being cold or warm. automated
video camera usage has an easy niche to fill. I highly doubt video cameras
would be turned off during the major showers nor would I want them to. With
more automated video camera usage however, the effect would be less
motivation to get others out there to record serious visual meteor data. For
those that do get interested, no doubt they should want to elevate to video.
If not, their interest will probably dwindle to simply observing for the fun
of it without recording data.
sirko>>PS: I can ensure you that we are still many years away from a global
coverage of meteor activity by video systems. You would need several dozen
expensive video systems spread all over the world, the appropriate
computer hardware and people willing to operate such a station. <<
How long has the video camera been available to the general public? Not too
many years. It has boomed into nearly every american household. The same with
computers. It wouldn't take too many automated video systems worldwide to
deter the population of visual meteor observers even without adequate global
coverage in place. Just the knowledge that one's visual data is about as
accurate as hitting a bullseye while diddling in a strong wind would deter
any prospective visual meteor data recorder.
sirko>>My camera
is operated in every clear night. In the last few months I got on average
around 30 hours of observations - that's only 4% of the whole month.
In these four percent I monitored a field of view of 40 deg, which is
again only 5% of the visible sky...<<
Would you consider the data you got as being more accurate than what one
would get if they were plotting visually? I would. If I lived near your area
and was a visual meteor recorder and I knew you operated on every clear night
with a video camera that wasa lot more accurate than what I could do
visually....I wouldn't even bother to go out for anything other than to enjoy
what I am seeing no more than a spectator would.
GeoZay
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