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(meteorobs) Lew Gramer's Meteor Reporting Tips
January 3, 2002
Greetings Mr. Lew Gramer and Fellow Meteor
Enthusiasts!
Forgive me for not responding to your monumental
dissection of my meteor reports until now, Mr. Gramer!
I have just recovered from a sudden but nasty case of
the flu or something like it. Nevertheless, thank you
very much for that sampling of meteoric erudition!
In response to your inquiries and/or comments:
> You often observe in the evenings, Mark - which are
> very often the most convenient times for us people
> unfortunate enough to have tough daytime work
> schedules. (And bosses who aren't meteor observers!
> ;>)
I commonly meteor hunt during the evenings, well, like
you said, due to its convenience primarily, and maybe
partially because of the lack of evening observations
reported. In the case of potentially strong meteor
showers such as the 2001 Perseids, I scoured the sky
late into the night. Of course, for me to stay up
late during such potential activity requires at least
poor to fair conditions. However, I haven't had too
many acceptable hunting nights recently, as was the
case during the past Leonids and Geminids.
Believe it or not though, I checked outside at 7:12
P.M. EST last night, and spied 11 stars in Star Area
8! That makes at least that part of the sky around
+6.0 mag.! The best LM, I believe, that I ever had
while using those star area charts.
> When you note field obstruction, be sure to log a
> *total* (including any buildings, trees, clouds,
> etc. that are in the field). And most important of
> all, only log the percentage obstruction of YOUR
> FIELD OF VIEW... So in other words, if 40% of the
> sky is obstructed, but you aim your body, head and
> eyes so that the obstruction is outside of your
> field of view, then YOUR obstruction for that period
> would be *0%*! :)
Thanks! I will try to remedy that if I send the list
any future reports.
> It is wonderful that you note the time of every
> meteor to the second, but you may be working
> yourself too hard, Mark. :) At the worst, I
> generally log meteors to the minute, unless it's a
> fireball (mag -3 or brighter).1
> And in fact, all that the IMO really requires is
> that you log a timestamp every "half hour or so"...
> which is a whole lot easier! :)
Well, I guess I've made it quite obvious. I do get to
be very particular about time among other things as
you can see. It helps keep me busy, I have to admit,
on those "long, cold, quiet evenings!" If I happen to
be observing on more active nights, I probably won't
be able to keep such exacting records naturally.
> Your reports show that you are estimating ALL the
> meteor data you need, Mark, to make your meteor
> observations really useful for analysis. Now, with
> that later analysis in mind (and to help Mark Davis,
> hard-working and long-suffering data collector for
> IMO in North America), there is a suggested format
> for REPORTING what you estimated. Using this
> format in your emails to 'meteorobs' will both save
> you time, and ensure that all your reports are
> promptly included in the frequent "press releases"
> and "shower circulars" put out by NAMN and by IMO.
> Here is a sample of how the above meteors could be
> reported single-line, without losing any of your
> hard-earned data!
I have stated before that I was planning on using an
NAMN reporting form. However, I haven't quite
mastered it yet as I am still trying to learn how to
properly record the "Field" information. Also, Mark
Davis was kind enough to send me an e-mail a few weeks
back containing a meteor reporting form that he
designed for amateur observers some years ago,
although I haven't checked it out yet.
> This is great, Mark: getting practice estimating
> meteor path lengths is valuable to a meteor
> observer! Mastering that skill is important to your
> recording for two reasons: one, it is actually
> possible for a meteor at a certain point in the sky
> to be TOO LONG to belong to a meteor shower!
> Reference:
> http://www.imodot net/visual/major01.html#sec54
> Second, at some point you may wish to start plotting
> the meteors you see, and also estimating your meteor
> speeds in the arcane 'degrees per second', rather
> than the "1-5" speed scale that most of NAMN
> observers (including me!) usually use. At that
> point, you will start to make very good use of all
> that practice in estimating meteor path lengths! :)
Thank you very much! I have been quite interested in
plotting meteors, and the arcane 'degrees per second'
measurements you mentioned sounds equally intriguing.
I will rifle through your reference when I can.
> Say what now! :) Maybe in your General Comments
> section, you might want to explain what you mean by
> things like "Was standing in the lake". ;>
Like I have mentioned before, I live by one; namely
Pickerel lake. When I stated in some of my reports
that my elevation was 760 feet, that also referred to
how high the lake level was. Thus, to help get a
better look at my field of view, I sometimes wade out
a little ways in the water with boots --- yes, I
confess, I have stood during all my observations!
> Well, I guess this email has gotten about long
> enough! :) Sorry about that - I tend to run on... I
> hope it was helpful, and remember, if you have
> questions about ANY of the above info, or anything
> meteor-related for that matter, we really encourage
> you to ask them on 'meteorobs'.
Don't worry, I too can get in the habit of wordy
emails and the like, perhaps more than you think! As
for questions, however, I would worry, because if I
had enough time to think and post all the questions
that I wanted answered, I think something would short;
the list, your computers, or both!
In any event, I hope to catch sight of a Quadrantid or
two this year (this would be my second try) although
it doesn't look overly promising. What time would you
advise for viewing this meteor shower now?
Long, and persistent trains!
Mark Fox
Newaygo, MI USA
(43 deg. 27', 85 deg. 49')
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