(meteorobs) Fwd: ?1886 Storm? MOON and WEATHER

To: Meteor Observing Mailing List <meteorobs@jovian.com>
Subject: (meteorobs) Fwd: ?1886 Storm? MOON and WEATHER
From: John Greaves <jgts@jgws.totalserve.codot uk> (via Lew Gramer)
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 14:12:20 -0500
Cc: John Greaves <jgts@jgws.totalserve.codot uk>, Steven Gregory <sgregory@avium.freeserve.codot uk>
Reply-To: meteorobs@jovian.com
Sender: owner-meteorobs@jovian.com


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Clear skies!
Lew Gramer <owner-meteorobs@jovian.com>


------- Forwarded Message

Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2000 19:48:51 +0100
From: Steven Gregory <sgregory@avium.freeserve.codot uk>
To: meteorobs@jovian.com
Subject: ?1886 Storm? MOON and WEATHER

>From John Greaves jgts@jgws.totalserve.codot uk

Dear Meteorobs

Whilst trawling thro' the astroarchives' list I came upon your
discussions on a possible 1886 meteor storm.  Though not a subscriber, I
hope you'll allow me the following short points [which I've also had to
have forwarded, cos I'm not at my own machine at the mo']!

MOON

I too had wondered about which calendar a foreign national staying in
Shanghai in 1886 would be working to.

A quick look at a planetarium prog earlier today showed that the moon
was a bright mag -12.5 and very waxing gibbous at 15.0 UT Nov 1886
_Gregorian_, and quite high in the sky at 3 am [although I have not
checked specifically for Shanghai's long/lat].  It would have been even
fuller at 16.0 Nov [I'm note sure from the earlier postings whether
we're talking night of 14/15 or 15/16].

On 15.0 UT Nov 1886 _Julian_ the moon was very nearly new, and would
have been new the next night.

[Feel free to check these, especially lunar altitude-wise for Shanghai
long/lat].

Leonid storms can have very bright fireballs, but I leave it to meteor
observers to decide for themselves from their own personal experience as
to which lunar phase fits the story's context better.

WEATHER

Shanghai is and was a major city and port.  It also enjoyed/suffered a
great deal of Western cum colonnial influence.  Surely there must be
weather records available somewhere/somehow for this city at this
period? [Hoping they've survived wars and conflicts].  More traditional
Chinese divination practice was also to note the weather as well as
astronomical phenomena. Although a 'positive' weather record wouldn't
really take us any further, should it have happened to be overcast
and/or persistent wet weather for the period 14/15/16 November 1886
_Gregorian_ the accuracy of the anecdote is directly tested.  A search
would also be needed for the nights of the 14/15/16 Nov 1886 _Julian_,
if only for completeness' sake!  A simple bit of weather info could
solve the issue at one stroke.

Now all I [we] need to do is find an East Asia Historical Weather
mailing list...

Cheers and all the best

John

John Greaves
UK

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