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Re: (meteorobs) An Introduction and a question or two



Hello David.  Welcome back to the exciting world of meteors.

David Swain wrote:
> pretty constant and intense for the previous years. I have been meteor
> observing seriously again for the last year or so after an almost 8
> year layoff so I feel like a novice again. 

Having had a period away myself due to work changes, I know what you
mean.

> In my time I have been
> involved in both visual, telescopic and photographic meteor observing

David made some fine telescopic observations for the BAAMS around
1990, from which some minor showers were evident.

> for the questions, the first is, I see some of the list members post
> their observations to the list on a regular basis so would it be
> useful for me to post my observations as well? 

Presenting the latest observations is one reason for having meteorobs.

> If so in what format
> would this be acceptable as I currently use the BAA meteor report
> format which includes time, magnitude, shower membership, approximate
> track and notes (train, explosion, sounds etc.).

The BAAMS form is long winded.  Some people do report each meteor, but
most use summaries for each hour broken down by shower and magnitude.
It's similar to the forms Keith Hindly introduced in the 1970s in the
BAAMS.  Check out the formats used by Jure or Wayne or Bob to quote but
three.

> > My second question is
> > to do with meteor plotting, about 15 years ago I was a member of
> > another meteor observing organisation called, I think the BMS (British
> > Meteor Society??) and as part of the membership package they included
> > a set of plotting maps on about 8 or 10 sheets covering the whole sky.

Robert Mackenzie upset too many people with an abrasive style (now
where have I heard that recently?) and once people stopped sending
in observations the BMS died.  Despite his faults, Robert did encourage
observations of minor showers.  The charts were from FEMA, that was
a European precursor to IMO.  However, their scale was too large
(in angle per unit length).

> > Can anyone tell me where I can get a similar set of plotting maps as
> > this is something I would like to start again. Cheers Dark skies and
> > dry air  David

Pleased to hear someone will be plotting in the UK.  The Brno set is
the de facto standard, available from the IMO.  It's part of the
"Handbook for Visual Meteor Observers", a mine of useful information
and will tell you the modern methods for visual observing, especially
plotting.  It's $20, about L13, including postage.  In the UK you can
pay through Alastair McBeath in Morpeth.  See
http://www.imodot net/member.html.  If you are serious about meteors,
then joining IMO is a good idea.  There is a bi-monthly journal packed
with recent observations, analysis, techniques, letters, and some
history too.  The subscription is $25 per year including WGN.

Malcolm

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