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(meteorobs) My Meteor Hunt Of December 10/11, 2001
December 24, 2001
Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!
Below is my last major observation before the Geminid
peak, of which was clouded out sadly. I also decided
to jot down the meteor hunting info on paper this
time. My goodness, does that wipe out time!
Date: Dec. 10/11, 2001
Observer: Mark Fox
Location: Newaygo, Newaygo Co., MI USA
(43 deg. 27' N, 85 deg. 49' W)
Elevation: about 760 feet --- Was standing in the lake
most of the time.
Total Teff: about 1.22 hrs.; from about 0:16-1:41 UT
(7:16-8:41 P.M. EST)
Temperature: 37 F (03 C) @ 3:04 UT, Nov. 10
Recording Method: manual (paper & pencil)
Dead Time: roughly 12 min.
Breaks: none
Average LM: About +5.2 all in all. Some haze was
present during the whole session which apparently
didn't fluctuate very much from the data gleaned a few
times from some star areas. The biggest fluctuation
occurred at 1:10:04 UT, but quickly subsided to a
lesser degree after a few moments.
I used the following star areas:
(Recorded at beginning of session --- no dead time.)
Area # Of Stars LM
19 3 ?
14 10- 5.2+
6 6 5.4
***********************************
(Recorded between 1:04:34 - 1:08:04 UT, about half of
which is counted as dead time.)
Area # Of Stars LM
19 3+ 5.2-
14 About 10 5.2+
6 About 6 5.4
Haze affected the whole sky to an annoying degree at
1:10:04 UT, subsiding after a few moments.
************************************
(Recorded at end of session --- no dead time.)
Area # Of Stars LM
19 3 ?
14 About 9 5.2
6 About 6 5.4
8 About 10? 5.9-
***********************************
Obstruction due to trees, hills, etc. across the WHOLE
sky.: roughly 40%, not including all the cracks
visible through the trees.
Cloud Cover: 0% as far as I could tell.
Field Of View: Auriga, especially the Little Dipper,
Gemini, Cygnus, the zenith, sometimes at Pegasus, and
most adjacent constellations.
Observed Showers:
GEM
ANT (1?)
SPO (4)
****************************************
METEOR DATA:
Time *** Meteor # *** Mag. *** Shower
0:17 UT 1 3-4 SPO
0:37 UT 2 2 SPO
0:41:39 UT 3 1 SPO
1:21:09 UT 4 4 SPO
1:27:34 5 1+ ANT?
***************************************
Meteor # *** Velocity *** Color ***
1 3 (?) Wh./Gr.
2 2 Wh./Yel.?
3 3 Wh
4 2? (?) Bl
5 2-3 Wh
***********************************
Meteor # *** General Location/Direction
And Path Length
1 Headed almost straight towards the lower
half of the Little Dipper from its left side.
Path Length: 3 deg.
2 Very roughly RA 14h 40m; Decl. 75 deg.
-to- RA 12h 40m; Decl. 72 deg
In another words, it started about a degree
above beta Ursae Minoris and ended about a
degree above and a couple or so degrees
before kappa Draconis.
3 Headed towards the bowl of Ursa Minor about
2 or less degrees right of its tail.
Path Length: 5 deg.?
4 Ended a few degrees above and at a slant with
Alpha Cygni. The meteor's path can be traced
back to somewhere near or in Andromeda,
ALTHOUGH it most likely originated from
beyond that constellation.
Path Length: 30+ deg?
5 Ended about a degree to the left of the
middle of Delphinus. From all the
measurements I could make, it apparently can
be traced back somewhere to the lower half
(FEET SIDE) of Gemini.
Path Length: about 30+ deg.
**************************************
NOTES:
1. Most if not all the time recorded here could be off
by only a few seconds.
2. ANT =Antihelion; GEM = Geminid; and SPO = sporadic.
3. None of the meteors witnessed this night had
luminous trains.
4. Meteor # 4 was one skinny meteor! I could have
easily missed that one. It was like eyeing a strand
of hair in the sky and appeared almost dark in a way.
Merry Christmas!
Mark Fox
Newaygo, MI USA
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