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(meteorobs) Re: Semi-casual observations; September 20-21
Wes,
I would suggest getting the Atlas Brno charts. They are by far the
easiest to use in the field. The limiting magnitude on those charts is
6.5 so there are many more stars available to help achieve an accurate
plot. They are available from me for only $4 a set. I can scan an
example of one if you are interested.
I use a shoestring to help align the plot. I have a long string so I can
go as far as necessary until I find two stars that lie precisely along
the path. The tricky part is recalling just where the meteor occurred
along this line.
I hope you consider more plotting as it provides another dimension to
the numerical data.
Clear Skies!
Bob Lunsford
Wesley Stone wrote:
>
> For a while, I've thought that I should at least try my hand at plotting. I finally did sort of a trial run last night. Well, it was different...
>
> I watched from 10:05-11:33 UT, which came out to be pretty close to 1 hour Teff after I subtracted the dead time. Under skies of LM=6.8, I saw 25 meteors and managed to plot 23 of them on copies of the old 1989-edition IMO gnomonic maps. I ran into numerous snafus that I won't mention here (at least I didn't hit the pause button on my tape recorder).
>
> The plots were pretty ugly, but gave me a general idea of what to look for in radiant association. With all the errors and intangibles, I feel that knowing the radiant positions and just associating them via the shoestring might have been as accurate, in addition to giving a better overall picture of visual rates and magnitude data. I can see the advantage of plotting, however, for those who can watch for an extended period in confirming or discovering suspected radiants. I also know that experienced observers probably achieve the accuracy needed to say that a plot is truly an objective representation of the meteor path.
>
> September 20/21 10:05-11:33 UT
> Teff: 1.0 hours. Mean limiting magnitude: 6.8
> Location: Chiloquin, OR. Latitude 42.576N Longitude 121.867W
>
> Stream (#, mean magnitude)
> Kappa Aqr (0, --)
> SPI (3, 5.0)
> DAU (1, 3)
> North Apex (2, 2.0)
> South Apex (1, 0)
> Sporadics (18, 3.2)
>
> --
> Wes Stone
> http://skytour.homestead.com
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