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(meteorobs) May 1, 2001 Meteor Observations From California
There was much anticipation in being able to watch from dark skies
again. The day did not look promising as cirrus clouds covered the
afternoon sky. Satellite pictures did show that these clouds would be
gone by midnight so I made the effort to drive eastward without actually
being able to see the sky above. Fog cloaked the coastal areas and no
stars were visible until I had driven some 25 miles. Upon reaching an
altitude of 1000 feet I broke through the fog and the skies were
perfectly clear. The bright quarter moon shone in the west but I knew it
would soon be setting. Everything was in order but wouldn't you know it?
The meteors somehow forgot to show up! In 3 hours of watching under good
dark conditions yielded a minuscule 11 meteors. What a disappointment!
With LM's this good one should be seeing much better activity but it
just was not there. I was well rested but I will admit that the dry wind
out of the east was blowing in my face did affect my eyes as they were
constantly irritated and watering. Regardless, here is my meager data in
which 4 of the 11 meteors were member of the Eta Aquarid shower. There
was also one meteor from the northern apex and one possible Eta Lyrid
meteor. The highlight of the night was a -1 Eta Aquarid that was seen
low in the south below the tail of Scorpius. Being that low to the
southern horizon it traveled quite slowly lasting a second and one half.
May 1, 2001
0900-1000 UT 0.97 1.00 6.42 0 ETA 4 SPO 4 TOTAL
1000-1100 UT 0.97 1.00 6.34 2 ETA 3 SPO 5 TOTAL
1100-1200 UT 0.98 1.00 5.93 2 ETA 0 SPO 2 TOTAL
TOTALS: 2.92 1.00 6.23 4 ETA 7 SPO 11 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. The last several
columns list the activity seen during each period. I was facing
southeast at an altitude of 60 degrees during the entire session. No
breaks were taken. ETA = Eta Aquarids and SPO = Sporadics (random
activity). Moonset occurred a 0925 (2:25 AM PDT)
Location: Alpine Viewpoint 116 39'00" W 32 50'00" N ELE = 975 m
Bortle Scale Estimate: Class 3 (Rural Sky)
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 58 F (14 C) 49%
Ending " " " 58 F (14 C) 46%
MAGNITUDES:
ETA: -1 (1) 0 (2) +1 (0) +2 (2.5) +3 (.5) +4 (0) +5 (0) AVERAGE: +1.38
SPO: -1 (0) 0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (2) +3 (2) +4 (2) +5 (0) AVERAGE:
+2.71
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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