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(meteorobs) Meteor Hunt Of November 20/21, 2001



November 30, 2001

Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!
 
Despite the Leonid bust here on peak night, I managed
to drag myself out of bed and ventured outside to see
if any meteor activity was present during the early
morning of  Nov. 21.  I recorded 4 in about 15 min.,
which I thought was interesting, but initially counted
most of them as Leonids.  However, I soon came to the
realization that they couldn't have been, even though
3 of them lined up quite nicely with the Leonid
radiant. They were far too close when their path
lengths were concerned!   Knowing that they were not
just chance alignment meteors, I now think with some
certainty that all four came from the Northern Apex
radiant and not elsewhere, including the Alpha
Monocerotid and Southern Apex radiants.  An outburst
by chance?   Strange.     

First And Only Session:

Date: Nov. 20/21, 2001 
Observer: Mark Fox
Location: Newaygo, Newaygo Co., MI USA (43 deg. 27' N,
85 deg. 49' W)
Elevation: 780 feet (about 238 meters) 
Teff: about 0.25 hrs.; from about 8:20-8:35 UT
(3:20-3:35 A.M. EST)
Temperature: 40 F (05 C) @ 3:00 UT, Nov. 20  
Temperature: 38 F (04 C) @ 13:18 UT, Nov. 21  
Recording Method: memory
Breaks: none 

LM: about +5.2+ with some haze observed.

The following star area was used:

Area     # Of Stars        LM 

  9          10-         +5.2?


Field of view:  Towards Leo, Gemini, and adjacent
constellations. 
  
Sky Obscured by clouds: 0% as far as I could tell. 

Percent of open sky not obscured by trees, hills,
etc.: Roughly 40% not including all the cracks visible
through the trees.  

Observed Showers:

          LEO
          NPX(4)
          SPO

Time **** Meteor # *** Shower

8:23(?) UT    1         NPX 

8:27 UT       2         NPX

8:28:43 UT    3         NPX

8:28:50 UT    4         NPX  
******************************

Meteor # *** Mag. *** Color

   1         +1     Wh/Yel?

   2         +1     Wh/Yel?  

   3         +1     Wh/Yel?

   4         +4     Wh/Yel?
*********************************

Meteor # *** Velocity *** Train

   1             4       0.5 sec.

   2           4-5?         -

   3           4-5?         -

   4             5          -
*************************************

Meteor # *** Location *** Path Length
            /Direction 
                  
   1          Shot past      15 deg.
              between
              the two 
              stars of 
              Canis Minor

   2          Right by and   About 10   
              underneath     deg.
              Rho Leonis.        

   3          (?) To the     (?) Roughly  
              right of and   10 deg.
              fairly close 
              to Rho Leonis

   4          (?) Right by    5 deg.
              and underneath.   
              Rho Leonis.
******************************************
               
NOTES: 

1. All time recorded here could be off by 15 sec.     


2. LEO = Leonids, NPX = Northern Apex meteors, and
SPO = sporadics. 


Long trains!

Mark Fox
Newaygo, MI USA


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