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(meteorobs) Observation May 6/7 2000



I was out this past Sunday morning (May 6/7) to observe at the 
Foymount dark sky site. Earlier in the afternoon, we had a hot day 
with a high of 30C that brought a layer of haze and smog over Ottawa. 
Driving 2 hours out to Foymount seemed to be a good call as all the 
haze was well below us from our 1800 feet of altitude. Afternoon 
clouds also dissipated quickly at sunset. The transparency was 
excellent with a limiting magnitude in the 6.7-6.8 range. The summer 
Milky Way was pristine all the way down into Sagittarius, with 
delicate details all accross. With so many new faint stars that I 
don't usually see from Casselman, plotting was a challenge at the 
beginning until I got used to it. What made this session truly 
enjoyable was a mild 15C under such good skies. There was also no 
trace of dew, and no bugs after sunset. What else can an observer ask 
for?

After keeping busy with telescopes all evening, I settled into my 
lawn chair and began meteor observing at 5:20 UT (1:20 EDT). The 
first hour had 7 meteors, second hour with the same number. The final 
20 min got an additional 6 meteors. The sopradics rates were a bit 
low considering the deep LM. Eta Aquarids took a long time to make an 
appearance but two of those appeared as my east was in deep morning 
twilight. Minor activity plotted from Omega Capricornids, Mu 
Virginids and the ecliptids. No candidates for Eta Lyrids. The 
highlight of the night was a gorgeous magn -2 Alpha Bootid that moved 
slowly down into Aquila. It was yellow and shaped like a tear drop.

An enjoyable morning under excellent skies. Poor weather and the Moon 
have now returned so this is my last report for this period.




DATE: May 6/7 2000
BEGIN: 5:20 UT (1:20 EDT)  END: 7:50 UT (3:50 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -77.304 West; Lat: 45.431 North  Elevation:100m
City & Province: Foymount, 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 OCA MVI ECL ABO
5:20-6:22    SE60    1.00  1.00    6.73    5   0   1   1   0   0
6:22-7:23    "       1.00  "       6.73    5   0   0   0   1   1
7:23-7:50    "	     0.37  "	   6.45    3   2   1   0   0   0
----------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:              2.85                 14   2   2   1   1   1  =  20
----------------------------------------------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER -2  -1   0  +1  +2  +3  +4  +5	AVERAGE

SPO     0   0   0   0   4   3   1   5	+3.29
ETA     0   0   0   0   0   1   1   0	+3.5
OCA     0   0   0   0   1   1   0   0	+2.5
MVI	0   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   +3.0
ECL     0   0   0   0   0   1   0   0   +3.0
ABO     1   0   0   0   0   0   0   0   -2.0
--------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 1   0   0   0   5   7   2   5
--------------------------------------------

SKY OBSCURED: none
------------------------

Dead time plots: 4 min. (plots)
Total dead time: 8 min.
Breaks: 7:38-7:42
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REMARKS
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