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(meteorobs) RE: high sporadic rates
From Mike L :
>Can anyone else attest to any such enhancement in this or other
>meteor showers in the past?
I had a couple of memorable hours in the 1983 Geminids.
1983 Dec 12/13
325 - 425 EST 825 - 925 UT LM 7.5 32 GEM 2 HYD 1 MON 1
December Leonid 19 SPOR 55 TOT
425 - 525 EST 925 - 1025 UT LM 7.5 54 GEM 2 MON 3 December
Leonids 21 SPOR 80 TOT
Location was 26N, 81.25W, western Everglades, for 2 nights.
The Geminids had slumped in the first hour but made a good recovery the
second hour. The two prior hours Geminids were 56 and 56. This was the
night before maximum. The next night was messed up by passing cloud groups,
but the last clear period, 325 - 342, had sky LM 7.7 with clouds all around
the horizons eliminating all stray light from distant cities. Meteor rates
weren't really unusual in that short period : 15 Geminids, 2 Sigma Hydrids,
1 December Leonid, and 4 sporadics; total 22. But seeing the entire black
sky looking like a short time-exposure photo was stunning. Everywhere, the
faint background carpet of stars was present, and the Milky Way overflowed
for around 15 degrees to either side. Even the zodiacal band made a good
showing, about 30 degrees wide along the ecliptic. It wasn't that cold a
night either, temps in the high 50'sF.
>>... 37 Quads and 17 Spors in an hour
Malcolm :
>17 doesn't strike me as being especially high
That is a very good level for me. I am happy to reach 13 sporadics at any
time. Going above 15 is quite uncommon, and above 20 downright rare. Mike
Linnolt and Malcolm Currie both have twice my perception for meteors. The
same principle applies to telescopic meteors. Whereas Malcolm considers
12/hr to be average, I have to be satisfied with only half that number in
the small amount of telescopic observing I have done. In mid-night hours
with my 12.5" reflector and 3-degree field I see far more satellites and
orbiting debris than meteors. There are objects crossing the field as faint
as magnitude 13. Must be sunlit bits of wire and metal fragments still
visible from the ground.
Norman
Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society
Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com
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