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(meteorobs) Mar 13/14 Meteor Observations From California
I finally got a break in the weather out here and decided to venture out
into the wilds to enjoy the March meteor activity. The activity
continues to be good for March as I caught 27 meteors in 2:50. I finally
saw some Virginid activity as the radiant was in my field of view during
the entire session. I also kept an eye out for any Gamma Normids but no
candidates were seen.
Despite clear skies over San Diego the light dome to the west was not
that bad. The overall sky was not that impressive as the zodiacal band
was not seen. Interestingly enough, the Milky Way was very impressive
and estimated magnitudes from star counts were mostly in the high 6's
and low 7's. It beats me how the sky can appear washed out yet LM
estimates are some of the best ever!
This was a night of long meteors. The first meteor seen traveled 30
degrees through Virgo into Serpens lasting 4 full seconds. There were 8
more with paths 10 degrees or longer. The highlight of the night was a
first magnitude pale green meteor that appeared in north central Virgo.
I rarely see green meteors but this one was seen near the center of
vision and had a distinct pale green color. The slow speed probably
aided in my color detection.
March 13/14 2000
1020-1124 UT 1.00 6.95 0 GNO 1 VIR 8 SPO 9 TOTAL
1124-1230 UT 1.00 6.81 0 GNO 1 VIR 13 SPO 13 TOTAL
1230-1310 UT 0.64 6.26 0 GNO 2 VIR 2 SPO 4 TOTAL
TOTALS: 2.64 6.73 0 GNO 4 VIR 23 SPO 27 TOTAL
The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PDT + 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 70 degrees during the entire
session. No breaks were taken. GNO = Gamma Normids, VIR = Virginids, SPO
= Sporadic (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 45 F (7 C) 49%
Ending " " " 42 F (6 C) 60%
MAGNITUDES:
VIR: +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +3.50
SPO: -1 (1) 0 (1) +1 (3) +2 (1) +3 (7) +4 (9) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +2.87
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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