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Re: (meteorobs) Unscientific Observatons



Michael,
 
Unscientific?  Sir, THIS is the way to watch a meteor shower.  I will try to have a hot tub nearby for the Geminids.  This was very useful data, indeed.
 
Chuck Urrey
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Clark
To: meteorobs@atmob.org
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2001 12:48 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Unscientific Observatons

My wife and I, along with another couple drove to a very dark and remote location in extreme NE California. It was cold so we waited until about Midnight (8:00 UT) to begin observing.  A conservative average would be 10 meteors per minute with brief periods of one per second. They seemed to often come in pairs and sometimes triplets. One Leonid was bisected by a sporadic at a perpendicular angle and then the path of that meteor was immediately crossed by another Leonid. The most activity seemed to come between 10:30 and 11:00 UT.
 
We saw six very bright Leonids that lit up the ground and left persistent trains. The brightest one left a train close to Procyon which lasted for at least three minutes and eventually drifted in front of the star and seemed to dim it slightly.
 
I saw four meteors to the south that traveled nearly straight down with no trains at all and were clearly not Leonids. They were consistent in appearance and direction. They may have been Monocertids, but I can't be sure. The meteor I mentioned that crossed paths with the Leonids may have been one as well. My apologies for the unscientific observations. Someday I hope to be able to contribute useful data.
 
By 4:00 am we were chilled to the bone and, in the interest of full disclosure, we jumped in the hot tub and continued to see many more despite the somewhat limited view of the sky. We were at a hot springs resort that had actually printed information about the shower for the guests and made sure the outside lights were off! Indulgent, I know, but it was also our wedding anniversary.
 
Michael Clark
Ashland, Oregon

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