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(meteorobs) Dec 11/12 Meteor Observations From California

I finally made it out to dark skies for the first time since the
Leonids. I had a couple of sessions from home last week that ended up
being a waste due to clouds. The skies tonight were perfectly clear. The
wind was calm the first 3 hours but roared to life the last 3. Geminid
rates were quite variable and a bit less than I expected. 

The rates for the last 2 hours are suspect due to fatigue. I only
managed a 2 hour nap before heading so I was not working at 100 percent.
The first 4 hours went smoothly as lots of data (including velocity,
radiant distance, and elevation) was being recorded for most meteors. I
hit the wall during hour 5 and actually fell asleep for 25 minutes
during hour 6. This was probably for the best as I would have had a
difficult time driving home without a short nap.  

December 11/12 1999

0700-0800 UT  1.00  6.35  0 COM   5 GEM   0 HYD   1 MON   0 PUP  
                          2 XOR   5 SPO   13 TOTAL

0800-0900 UT  1.00  6.35  0 COM   23 GEM  2 HYD   0 MON   0 PUP
                          1 XOR    8 SPO  34 TOTAL

0900-1000 UT  1.00  6.46  1 COM   17 GEM  1 HYD   1 MON   1 PUP
                          1 XOR   11 SPO  33 TOTAL

1000-1100 UT  1.00  6.22  0 COM   20 GEM  4 HYD   1 MON   0 PUP
                          1 XOR   12 SPO  38 TOTAL

1100-1200 UT  0.50  6.20  0 COM   8 GEM   1 HYD   1 MON   0 PUP
                          1 XOR   7 SPO   18 TOTAL

1200-1300 UT  0.58  6.20  0 COM   9 GEM   2 HYD   1 MON   1 PUP
                          0 XOR   5 SPO   18 TOTAL

TOTALS:       5.08  6.31  1 COM   82 GEM  10 HYD  5 MON   2 PUP
                          6 XOR   48 SPO  154 TOTAL


The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PST + 8 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 65 degrees during the entire
session. Time was lost to fatigue during the last two hours. COM = Coma
Berenicids, GEM = Geminids, HYD = Sigma Hydrids, MON = Monocerotids, PUP
= Puppid-Velids, XOR = Chi Orionids, and SPO = Sporadic (random
activity). 

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity:   35 F (2 C)  24%
Ending         "         "         "       41 F (5 C)  20%

MAGNITUDES:

COM:   -1 (1)                                             AVERAGE: -1.00
GEM:   -2 (1) -1 (2) 0 (3) +1 (12) +2 (19) +3 (14) +4 (24) 
       +5 (7)                                             AVERAGE: +2.67
HYD:   +3 (4) +4 (3) +5 (3)                               AVERAGE: +3.90
MON:   +3 (2) +4 (2) +5 (1)                               AVERAGE: +3.80
PUP:   +4 (2)                                             AVERAGE: +4.00
XOR:    0 (1) +2 (3) +3 (2)                               AVERAGE: +2.00
SPO:    0 (2) +1 (8) +2 (8) +3 (12) +4 (12) +5 (4) +6 (2) AVERAGE: +2.92

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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