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Re: (meteorobs) Plotting: Three Stooges Method
I'll wait, Joe, and see if the issue of S&T is still on the
newstands this weekend, else I will get back in touch for the details,
sounds interesting.
In my attempts to cut out Larry and Moe, I have revised my approach
as follows, taking clues from many of you.....
A: I now have my small flashlight on a cord to hang from my
neck. No more ants!
B. I have measured out fist-sized increments (temporarily) on a
length of cord, using knots. Fortunately, my hand-held recorder has a
small length of carry strap: I tied my cord to this, so now my cord is
attached to my recorder.
C. I ditched the digital watch with luminous dial that I had
glued to my recorder. I had lost the instructions on how to set the
darn thing, anyway, and it was cheap. Today I bought a talking clock
from Radio Shack ($15.99) and it too is currently attached to my tape
recorder. Its proximity to the mic means the time will be recorded when
I push any one of six buttons on the face --I don't have to fumble for a
light button, I can just hit any button and I have the time recorded.
So now when a meteor appears I can just hold up my recorder,
pull out the cord for placement, hit any clock button for time, after
hitting the pause button, which I find instinctively now. I shouldn't
have to take my eyes off the sky until I'm ready to chart the meteor.
D. My pencil and ruler are now tied to my clipboard.
As soon as the sky clears, I'll find out how well it works....Kim S.
Youmans
Talbert, Joe wrote:
>
>
> Sept(i think) Sky and Telescope had an interesting project for
> measuring degrees in the sky. The metric is develpoed u sing a yard
> stick (36inches) nailed to the end of a length of board then pulled
> back into an arc of prescribed radius, each inch mark equals an
> increment of arc. I'm writing this from memory if you wish I'll get
> the recipe.
>
> Joe Talbert
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kim S. Youmans [SMTP:ksyo@pinelanddot net]
> Sent: Saturday, September 04, 1999 06:37 PM
> To: Meteorobs
> Subject: (meteorobs) Plotting: Three Stooges Method
>
> Hello All,
> As part of my continuing education in meteor
> observation, I
> have slowly been working my way into plotting. I must admit,
> never have
> I found anything that seemed so deceptively simple to be so
> confoundingly frustrating. A typical attempt at plotting a
> single
> meteor may go something like this:
> 5:40 UT, a meteor appears that *may* be coming from a known
>
> radiant. I decide to plot it. I throw my ruler up into the air
> to
> "place" the path.
> 5:40:30, I feel I have the path, now I need to see the
> time. I
> grope for my recorder, finally find the pause button, while still
>
> holding the ruler to the sky. I look down at the watch glued to
> the
> recorder. I look back up, and I no longer have the ruler placed
> exactly
> where it should be. I place it back where I think it should be.
>
> 5:41:30 I stare and stare and stare at that region of the
> sky and
> finally realize the meteor was over the peak of Ophiuchus.
> I cautiously put the ruler down and reach for my red light and
> charts.
> I turn on the red light, and in order to free up my hands for
> plotting,
> hold the light in my mouth. I get stung on the tongue by an
> ant. I
> spit the ant and several grains of sand out, then return to the
> chart.
> 5:42:30 An outburst of 15 simultaneous meteors occur while
> I am
> staring down at my charts. By now I can't remember
> which direction the meteor was traveling, or what the beginning
> and end
> point was, if I ever had them well to begin with. I "plot" the
> meteor
> just as the cat jumps on my lap and all my tools get scattered.
> 5:43:30 A magnitude -7 fireball appears while I am looking
> down to
> gather up my pencil, chart, ruler and recorder. My chewing gum,
> I
> notice, is quite gritty with sand now.
> And that was an EASY one! Actually, most of the meteors
> appear
> within my field of view, and go quickly on the chart I have out
> and I
> don't really lose that much time. But the most frustrating
> thing of
> all, I think is getting home and not being able to accurately
> predict
> the radiant drift for various minor shower radiants due to the
> inadequacies of my charts. I still don't know what one grid on
> the
> Atlas Bruno chart represents, in degrees, and my Petersons charts
> have
> the RA and dec, but I can't translate that well into actual
> degrees.
> So a few questions: If I hold my 12" ruler to the sky at
> arms
> length, how many degrees of sky am I covering? It is
> approximately the
> distance from Deneb to Altair. I know the rule of thumb about
> fist size
> being 10 degrees and open hand being about twenty, but there can
> be a
> wide variation there among individuals.
> Also, do I need to join a guild or a lodge to get the secret
>
> information contained within those plotting charts? If I could
> accurately measure distance on those charts, I wouldn't have to
> aggravate Mark, Wayne, and others for current radiant positions.
> Or is
> there some easier way that I'm missing altogether? (Wayne, I
> didn't get
> the current Piscid position:>)
> But until I started plotting, I never realized I had so many
> thumbs.
> Thanks in Advance, Kim S. Youmans
>
>
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