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(meteorobs) Oct 13/14 Meteor Observations From California
After several observing sessions from home I decided to travel to darker
skies to see some real activity. The trip was worth it as I counted 40
meteors in 3 hours. The Orionids were surprisingly active and produced
16 meteors. Much lower activity was seen from the Delta Aurigids and the
Taurid complex now located in Aries.
The temperature was pleasant and I did not have to crawl into the
sleeping bag. I do wish there was a bit of a breeze to help cope with
the constant attack from mosquitoes which is unusual for these parts.
There were several highlights this morning. The third meteor of the
night was a second magnitude earth-grazer that shot across 50 degrees of
sky. It lined up with the Delta Aurigid radiant but obviously had a
radiant much closer to the horizon.
Another highlight was a first magnitude orange meteor out of Eridanus
that traveled 30 degrees during its 3 seconds of visibility. It ended
just short of Mira (which is currently 4th magnitude).
Finally, the last meteor of the night was a -3 October Arietid/South
Taurid which shot into the northwestern sky and fragmented before
disappearing. It traveled some 30 degrees in 4 seconds. It was a nice
way to end the night!
October 13/14 1999
0900-1000 UT 0.93 6.52 1 DAU 0 OAR/NTA 3 ORI 1 OAR/STA 5 SPO
1000-1200 UT 0.91 6.44 2 DAU 2 OAR/NTA 6 ORI 1 OAR/STA 4 SPO
1100-1200 UT 0.92 6.32 0 DAU 0 OAR/NTA 7 ORI 2 OAR/STA 6
SPO
TOTALS: 2.76 6.43 3 DAU 2 OAR/NTA 16 ORI 4 OAR/STA 15 SPO
The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PDT + 7 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky. Time was lost for
plotting and data entry tonight. The third column gives the average
limiting magnitude estimated during each period with a minimum of 4
estimates using at least 2 and preferably 3 different sky areas close to
my center of view. The last several columns list the activity seen
during each period.
I was facing South at an altitude of 60 degrees during the entire
session. No breaks were taken. DAU = Delta Aurigids, OAR/NTA = October
Arietids/Northern Taurids, ORI = Orionids, OAR/STA = October Arietids/
Southern Taurids, and SPO = Sporadic (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 60 F (16 C) 12%
Ending " " " 57 F (14 C) 11%
MAGNITUDES:
DAU: 0 (1) +3 (1) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +2.67
OAR/NTA: +1 (1) +4 (1) AVERAGE: +2.50
ORI: -1 (2) 0 (1) +1 (2) +2 (4) +3 (3) +4 (4) AVERAGE: +2.06
OAR/STA: -3 (1) +4 (2) AVERAGE: +1.75
SPO: 0 (2) +1 (2) +2 (3) +3 (4) +4 (2) +5 (2) AVERAGE: +2.53
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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