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(meteorobs) QUA + more from California
Hello folks,
After a few days of beautiful clear skies, the forecast for the San
Francisco Bay area called for rain moving in on Tuesday, with clouds
building up Monday night. So, I decided to head south to try and clear
the oncoming weather system. As I drove south on Hwy 101 and east on
152, I decided to stop at Pacheco State Park, about 50miles SE of San
Jose. The clouds seemed to be gone, and I settled in for some Teff.
Unfortunately, it turned out I did not go far enough, because I was
plagued with periods of cloudiness, moving in from the extreme south
edge of the weather system. This forced me to observe through some
non-ideal conditions, and to cut short some Teff's due to rapidly
deteriorating skies. But, the clouds would then pass, and give me a
chance to warm up in my car between sessions, so overall it was not too
bad.
This location has quite dark skies, generally. Much better than Mt.
Tamalpais, where I went for the GEM last month. The milky way was quite
brilliant, in the darkest SE part of the sky. Calm winds and Temps in
the 40's, made for fairly decent conditions, too.
I saw what appeared to be one mag 0 QUA, at 6:45pm PT, shortly after I
arrived. Its trajectory seemed to match well with the radiant (which was
just setting at the NW horizon at that time), but its velocity was very
slow, about 5deg/sec. So, I think it probably was some reentry debris!
Overall, there was a mixture of minor shower activity, as expected.
After the main QUA and SPO, totals of 27 and 23 respectively, for 4.58hr
Teff, the XOR were the next most prolific shower, with 7 total. The DCA
and COM showed a few as well.
Interestingly, I followed up on Bob's post, and kept an eye out for any
Lynx area meteors, and I definitely saw 2 fairly bright ones with medium
velocity, from a radiant around 09h +55d. Anyone else see anything from
this area ?
Once the QUA radiant rose, after about 10:30pm PT, their activity
increased markedly, and dominated the meteor counts from that point on.
But the HR maxed out only around 22 (uncorrected for LM) between
0835-0851 UT, which apparently was well past the peak?
So, thats the result from an unfavorably located geographical location!
Nothing like the GEM show last month, but still some interesting stuff.
Now, lets see where the true peak occured this year, Europe again?
Sincerely,
Mike Linnolt
REPORT FOLLOWS:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OBS: Mike Linnolt (LINMI)
DATE: Jan. 04, 2000
TIME: 0400 - 1013 UT (8pm - 2:13am PT Jan 03/04)
LOC: Pacheco State Park, CA (37d 03m N, 121d 13m W)
ELEV: 450m
METHOD: Paper
Observing Periods Summary:
==========================
# Period(UT) FOV Teff F LM QUA DCA XOR COM Lynx SPO
---------- --- ---- - -- --- --- --- --- ---- ---
1 0400-0431 05h +40 0.50 1.05 6.3 0 0 1 0 0 4
2 0433-0505 06h +10 0.50 1.50 6.3 0 0 1 0 0 3
3 0530-0617 05h +70 0.75 1.05 6.2 1 0 2 0 1 2
4 0617-0654 08h +20 0.58 1.10 6.4 2 0 1 0 0 2
5 0730-0833 09h +60 1.00 1.00 6.0 8 1 1 0 0 5
6 0835-0851 11h +50 0.25 1.40 5.8 4 0 0 0 0 1
7 0910-1013 11h +50 1.00 1.10 6.0 12 2 1 3 1 6
Periods Detail:
===============
Period #1:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:................................................. = 0
DCA:................................................. = 0
XOR:.................................1............... = 1
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:................................................. = 0
SPO:.................................1....1....2..... = 4
DEAD TIME: 1 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: Period #1 was pretty good conditions. Good LM and very slight
interference from a cloud band moving in from the North.
Period #2:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:................................................. = 0
DCA:................................................. = 0
XOR:............................1.................... = 1
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:................................................. = 0
SPO:.................................1....2.......... = 3
DEAD TIME: 2 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: Cloud bands starting to move in at end of Period #1, now came
overhead and caused significant obscuration.
Period #3:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:......................................1.......... = 1
DCA:................................................. = 0
XOR:...........................................2..... = 2
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:............................1.................... = 1
SPO:............................1..............1..... = 2
DEAD TIME: 2 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: A relatively cloud free period, intended for a 1.00 Teff, but
a new cloud band moved in, forcing termination of the observing period
at 45mins. First QUA of the night observed at 9:58pm PT, had a long
60deg "grazing" type of path. However,the published radiant at 15h 20m
+49d, was still 2 degrees below the horizon. But, with a few degrees
area of the radiant position, it is possible the true radiant was at
or slightly above the horizon?
Also, 1 moderately bright meteor appeared from the area of Lynx, it had
an approx. radiant near 09h +55d.
Period #4:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:.................................1..............1 = 2
DCA:................................................. = 0
XOR:............................1.................... = 1
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:................................................. = 0
SPO:......................................1....1..... = 2
DEAD TIME: 2 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: FOV centered in darkest area of the sky. Cloud band moved in
again, forcing termination of observing period at 35mins. The
published QUA radiant rose during this interval.
Period #5:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:.............1.........1.........4....1....1..... = 8
DCA:.................................1............... = 1
XOR:......................................1.......... = 1
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:................................................. = 0
SPO:......................................2....3..... = 5
DEAD TIME: 3 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: LM deteriorate somewhat. Apparently, some haze or high thin
clouds reduce LM? But otherwise nice cloud free 60min period.
Period #6:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:.......................1.........1....2.......... = 4
DCA:................................................. = 0
XOR:................................................. = 0
COM:................................................. = 0
Lyn:................................................. = 0
SPO:...........................................1..... = 1
DEAD TIME: 1 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: More cloud bands move in, cutting short an intended Teff of 0.50
to only 15min.
Period #7:
----------
Mag->_-3___-2___-1____0___+1___+2___+3___+4___+5___+6
-------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+
QUA:.......................1....1....5....3....2..... = 12
DCA:............................1....1............... = 2
XOR:......................................1.......... = 1
COM:.................................2.........1..... = 3
Lyn:.......................1......................... = 1
SPO:.......................1.........1....2....2..... = 6
DEAD TIME: 3 min
BREAKS: 0
Note: Another bright Lynx area meteor seen, from same apparent radiant
area 09h +55d.
END OF REPORT.
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