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Re: (meteorobs) Opik



Title: Re: (meteorobs) Opik
Chris,

I dont see any way around the high rate problem and Opik's method. It depends on the ability of the observer to differentiate one meteor from another (as the data is logged) and the analyst to correlate the data from multiple observers(identifying discreet events). Shoooting from the hip I think this would put an upper limit of a shower rate of a few hundred per hour.
Employing a counting method with a magnitude limit of , say 0 mag or brighter , might be one way around it. That opens up another can of worms though.
Tom


I think it’s even worse: the Opik method breaks down at rates above maybe 1,000 per hour (with really good timing), but then ANY human counting method breaks down around 4,000 per hour. We were counting Leonids on board the NASA plane for the 1999 storm, when we got a peak of over 3,000 per hour, and the observers were at their upper limits. It took all their concentration to keep up with the meteors.

Chris

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