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(meteorobs) Quadrantids from eastern Ontario...
Hi everyone,
This is a quick note to say that I've just had a successful
Quadrantids run this past evening (January 3/4, 2002). I began
observing soon after sunset, and kept watching for a few hours until
the moonrise near 10pm. The sky was dark and nicely transparent
(LM=6.5) until the moon finally came up. My field of view was
toward the north-west.
Despite very low radiant, the Quadrantids were alive! A fairly good
number of earthgrazers moving gracefully accross the sky. One of
them included a mag -3 beauty that scooted a path of nearly 30
degrees only about five degrees from the NW horizon. It flared
gradually in brightness. Other earthgrazers were typically faint,
and seemed to flare "in" and "out" several times on their dramatic
paths before finally extinguishing.
Not surprisingly, rates did seem to be on the decline as the evening
went on. We'll see when I decode my tape.
So, it was a pleasant surprise to see the early evening Quadrantid
meteors despite radiant no more than 10-12 degrees from the horizon.
While observing, I also ran a camera for the entire period.
I'll try and decode my tape asap, but it probably won't be until
Saturday morning.
An enjoyable early evening session!
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
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