[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
(meteorobs) Apr 11/12 Meteor Observations From California
I managed a short two and one half hour session from the local
mountains. I had planned to be out earlier but I went to bed late and
hit the snooze button on the alarm clock a few times. Once I did manage
to stumble out of bed I sat on the living room couch trying to wake up
but managed to fall back asleep for a half hour. I must thank my
daughter for waking me up or I would have probably slept on the couch
all night! At least I made it out tonight as I didn't even make it out
of bed on Tuesday morning.
The timing was perfect as a deep orange half moon was setting just as I
arrived. The sky was clear all the way to coast so the sky was a bit
washed out from the light pollution. I was most interested to see for
myself if the sporadic activity was high as reported by Kim Youmans
earlier this week. I'm happy to say it is as I saw 8 and 9 sporadics
during the two periods this morning. The ecliptical anthelion radiant
was active this morning producing 4 slow meteors coming from
southeastern Virgo. The apex radiant, on the Sagittarius-Capricornus
border, was more quiet only producing one fast meteor.
The highlight of the session was a fast zero magnitude sporadic that
began overhead in Hercules and shot through Serpens Caput, traveling
some 40 degrees in two seconds. Although this one exhibited no color,
the other 0 and 1st magnitude meteors seen tonight were a distinctive
orange and yellow.
April 11/12 2000
0945-1049 UT 1.00 6.54 0 APX 2 ECL 8 SPO 10 TOTAL
1049-1215 UT 1.35 6.33 1 APX 2 ECL 9 SPO 12 TOTAL
TOTALS: 2.35 6.42 1 APX 4 ECL 17 SPO 22 TOTAL
The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PDT + 7 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 60 degrees during the entire
session. No breaks were taken. APX = Apex radiant (located 90 degrees
west of the sun), ECL = Ecliptical Antihelion Radiant (located 170
degrees west of the sun) and SPO = Sporadic (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 50 F (10 C) 42%
Ending " " " 49 F ( 9 C) 33%
MAGNITUDES:
APX: +5 (1) AVERAGE: +5.00
ECL: +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +3.50
SPO: 0 (2) +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (8) +4 (4) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +2.82
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html