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(meteorobs) Observation May 3/4 2000
I finally managed to go out last night (May 3/4) to get my first
meteor session since last November. I observed from Casselman under
clear skies for the last 3 hours until dawn. It was a very mild night
as it never got cooler than 5C, yet the sky was quite good with a LM
reaching 6.3-6.4.
Activity was fairly good in the first hour, with sporadics to keep me
busy plotting and a weak presence from the ecliptical activity and Mu
Virginids. I managed to plot almost everything. The second hour was
very slow with just 2 sporadics. It was a long lull of inactivity for
29 minutes, but the Eta Aquarids radiant would rise soon, so I kept
going.
The third hour came alive again. More sporadics, many on the faint
side. Eta Aquarids were a bit disappointing. I was hoping for one or
two earthgrazers as the "water jar" came up over the horizon, but no
luck this time. It took until 7:33 UT (3:33 EDT) to see my first
Aquarid... a faint magn +4. Three more ETA were seen before signing
off as dawn approached, but none got brighter than 2nd magnitude. It
looked like a fairly ordinary night of activity, with no highlights
worth mentioning. Actually, there is something interesting to
mention... after checking my plots, I got 3 meteors to intersect in a
surprisingly sharp point in Virgo (14h07 +01). The candidates were
all medium speed. No potential Alpha Bootids or Omega Capricornids
candidates were seen.
Overall, it was an enjoyable night and I will hope to get out again
over the weekend.
Pierre
DATE: May 3/4 2000
BEGIN: 5:20 UT (1:20 EDT) END: 8:20 UT (4:20 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North Elevation:100m
City & Province: Casselman, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVED SHOWERS: 3-letter code; radiant position
ECL/SAG (ecliptids) 236 -20
MVI (Mu Virginids) 15h22 -8
ETA (Eta Aquarids) 337 -2
OCA (Omega Capricornids) 21h00 -20
ABO (Alpha Bootids) 15h00 +19
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen; / = shower not observed
PERIOD(UT) FIELD Teff F LM SPO ETA ECL MVI ABO OCA
5:20-6:25 SE60 1.00 1.00 6.23 7 0 1 1 0 0
6:25-7:26 " 1.01 " 6.33 2 0 0 0 0 0
7:26-8:20 " 0.84 " 6.27 8 4 0 0 0 0
----------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 2.85 17 4 1 1 0 0 = 23
----------------------------------------------------------------
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 AVERAGE
SPO 1 2 6 6 2 +3.35
ETA 0 1 0 2 1 +3.75
ECL 0 0 0 1 0 +4.0
MVI 0 1 0 0 0 +2.0
--------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 1 4 6 9 3
--------------------------------------------
SKY OBSCURED: none
------------------------
Total dead time: 8.8 minutes (plots)
Breaks: none
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REMARKS
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