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(meteorobs) Observation January 18/19 2002
Here is a short meteor session that I had last Friday evening from a
site south-west of Ottawa. Although I spent much more time watching
DSO's and occultations, I was curious to see a bit of meteor activity
(especially after having seen an absolutely gorgeous casual mag -1
meteor that crawled *very* slowly for several seconds, and fragmented
on its path).
The limiting magnitude was very good to start off early in the
evening (LM=6.4) but it gradually declined as the air got less
transparent. By the time I signed-on for meteors shortly before
midnight, the sky was down to LM=6.23. The temperature was approx
-14C, but my coffin and sleeping bag kept me nice and toasty, so it
was enjoyable.
Well, the bright meteor seen earlier in the evening was probably a
lucky fluke because activity was almost on-existent while I was
signed-on. Only two meteors were seen (oen SPO and one plotted Alpha
Hydrid). Both were also very faint. Nothing from the Delta Cancrids.
Still, it was nice just to be out under clear skies!
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
DATE: January 18/19 2002
BEGIN: 0420 UT (2320 EST) END: 0528 UT (0028 EST)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76.0669 West; Lat: 45.0453 North Elevation:100m
City & Province: Franktown, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVED SHOWERS: 3-letter code; radiant position
ANT (Antihelion or Delta Cancrids) 08:56 (134) +17
AHY (Alpha Hydrids) 09:08 (137) -13
npx (north apex sporadics or Com Ber) 13:56 (209) +04
SPO (random sporadics) -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen; / = shower not observed
PERIOD(UT) FIELD Teff LM SPO ANT AHY napx
0420-0528 0858 +11 0.97 6.23 1 0 1 0
------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 0.97 1 0 1 0 = 2
------------------------------------------------
The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods broken down
as close as possible to one hour of true observing, in Universal
Time. The second column (Field) is the area in in the sky where I
centered my field of view. The third column (TEFF) represents
effective observing time (corrected for breaks or any time I did not
spent looking at the sky). One hour = 1.00 teff. The fourth column
(LM) is the average naked eye limitimg magnitude, determined by
triangle star counts. All following columns indicate the number of
meteors for each shower observed.
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER +5 AVERAGE
SPO 1 +5.0
AHY 1 +5.0
---------
TOTALS: 2
---------
Note: Magnitude scale is to determine the brightness of sky objects.
Magnitude -8 is comparable to a quarter moon, magnitude -4 with the
planet Venus, magnitude -1 with the brightest star Sirius, magnitude
+2 to +3 with most average naked eye stars and magnitude +6 to +7 are
the faintest stars the naked eye can see under typical dark
conditions. A meteor of at least magnitude -3 is considered a
fireball. The above table contains the magnitudes from all observed
meteors, and the average for showers.
SKY OBSCURED:
None
------------------------
Dead time: 10 minutes (incl 1 min for plots)
Breaks: 0509-0518 UT
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