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(meteorobs) Novice GEM obs
I should be sleeping now.... But anyway, for various
reasons I was was able only to go to a suburban site with
LM of perhaps a bit better than +5. (I could see 6 of 7
Little Dipper stars steadily, with all of the asterism
lower in the sky than Polaris [below 30 degrees], and the
7th star came in and out. Towards the end I noticed the
Beehive near the zenith. Not too bad for near a city, but
far from ideal. However, it was a beautifully clear sky
which I wish I could have shared with all of you better
observers in cloudy areas.)
So, in 80 minutes Teff during 07:45-09:55, I counted 101
Geminids and 9 others (3 from Leo, 1 from Auriga, 1 from
Orion, one very fast, long one, +3, from the far southeast
to the northeast, plus some others). Two of the GEMs were
simultaneous, on similar tracks going straight down in the
south. Best periods: 8:05-15, 18 GEM, 1 other; 8:50-9:00,
17 GEM, 0 other. In "unofficial" time I saw at least 20
more GEMs and 3 sporadics. I watched mostly within about
10 degrees of the zenith. The observing site was 30.314W,
97.866W, 270 meters.
The rate this year seems very comparable to last year, when
I was at a dark site for quite a bit more time and saw over
400 GEMs (if memory serves). This year seems to uphold
very well the general opinion around here that the Geminids
shower is the best regular one of the year.
I continue to encounter what seems to be to be a problem
-- significant numbers of meteors seen around the periphery
of my field of view -- more than I see nearer to the center
of the field. It makes me wonder if I'm looking at the
"wrong" spot. This also makes it difficult to identify some
of these meteors. (Please pardon me if this is explained
in a FAQ that I haven't managed to read yet.)
Ed Cannon - ecannon@mail.utexasdot edu - Austin, Texas, USA
http://wwwvms.utexasdot edu/~ecannon/meteorlinks.html
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