1: I also am new to meteor observing and wondering if meteors ever appear as brief flashes in the sky? I often see such flashes but because my eyesight is poor I'm not sure if they are reflections off my eyeglass lenses or an ocular glitch. I also tend to see a lot of stuff streaking across the sky but tend not to trust what I think I see. It must be pretty bright before I believe I've seen any thing! At any rate this morning I saw the following:
Location: N33 W117 Time: 12:15-12:19 UT Direction: Just under Jupiter so about RA 02h Dec 5 deg
observed 4 bright flashes Mag 0.
I checked for Irridium flares and none were expected. The direction is toward the eastern end of Piscies bordering Cetus.
Any feed back?
2. The recipe for the "yard stick angle finder" was in the July S&T you'll still need three hands and a flashlight but it may be useful as a learning tool.
"Tack a yard skick to the end of a 57 inch shaft. The yard sick should be bowed with a stick as shown (an illustration shows yard stick fastened at it's midpoint (18inches) to the end of a 57 inch shaft. The yard stick is pulled back toward the shaft crossbow fashion by string attached to both ends forming a chord that crosses the 57 inch shaft 2 -3/4 inches behind the midpoint if the yard stick). To make a sight, place the shaft aginst your cheekbone and read off inches with a flashlight. Inches on the yardstick equal degrees in the sky."-S&T July 99