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(meteorobs) Re: Best field center...what say you?



Tony and All,

This question is not easy to answer! To see the most activity I would
suggest to novices to face in the general direction of the radiant.
Unfortunately much of this activity would be short and easily missed if
faint. Looking further from the radiant would reduce the activity but
produce more spectacular meteors. I suppose a compromise would be to
look 20-40 degrees away. One important factor would also be to make sure
that one does not look straight up at the zenith or so low that the
ground obscures part of the field of view. Again a compromise of 45-60
degrees in altitude would suffice.

I hope this helps!

Bob



"Dr. Tony Phillips" wrote:
> 
> Dear Bob -- I have a question about where to look for meteors.  In cases
> where there are two closely-spaced active radiants (like one in Gemini and
> another in Orion) it's clear that you would want to keep at least one of
> the radiants within your field of view in order to distinguish between
> members of the two showers.
> 
> But suppose you're a very casual observer: you don't care much where the
> meteors come from -- you just want to see a good show.  Would your advice
> (i.e., to look 0-45 degrees from the primary radiant) still hold?
> 
> Regards, Tony
> 
> At 05:14 PM 10/20/01 -0700, you wrote:
> >Sid and All,
> >
> >For the Orionids I like to face due south at an elevation of 60-70
> >degrees. This places my field of view near the antihelion radiant early
> >in the session. As dawn approaches the Orionid and Epsilon Geminid
> >radiants have drifted well within my field of view. By looking way over
> >in Andromeda, it would be difficult to distinguish between the ORI's and
> >the EGE's.
> >
> >You may have read in the NASA Orionid article that you should face 90
> >degrees from the radiant. I disagree with this as you need to have a
> >radiant within your field of view to accurately categorize it. This
> >means that the radiant can be located anywhere from the center of your
> >field of view out to 45 degrees.
> >
> >I hope this helps!
> >
> >Bob Lunsford
> >(who is grounded tonight due to high clouds and work) :(
> >
> >
> >
> >Sid, wrote:
> >
> > >Hello, What would be the most advantageous field center over the next
> > week or so?I've been looking in the area of M31 and am not sure if I
> > should swing more northward this weekend.
> >
> >Clear skies,
> >-SID!
> >The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
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> 
> The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
> If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
> To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html
The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
If you are interested in complete links on the upcoming LEONIDS, see:
http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
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