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(meteorobs) Re: Arietids
I just had to chuckle when I thought about my past experience with the Arietids. I hope some of you get a good laugh out of it too...
A few years ago, I decided that I wanted to observe some daylight meteors...and I got to thinking. Thinking can be dangerous for me. I decided that if I could increase the contrast between the optical output of the meteor and the background sky that I would have a better chance of seeing one. Orange is the complement to blue, right? So I figured if I were looking through an orange photographic filter, the sky would appear darker and I might get a signal to noise increase on the meteor. Well, I bought my filter at a camera store, and inserted it into a small aperture I had cut in a cardboard box (about 35cm on each side). The box formed a "dark room" to keep glare out of my eyes. Of course, there was lots of glare from the bottom of the box (through which one put one's head). So I bought some dark cloth and taped it on like a cloak. Okay, you should be laughing by now. While wearing it I looked like some monocular creature from the old series, "Dr. Who." I tested it for about 30 minutes one early June morning while reclining at the beach in Grand Isle, Louisiana. I wish I had a picture...
I didn't see any meteors in that half hour and I haven't tried it since. But I'm not completely convinced the idea is faulty. So if you're at a beach or state park in Oklahoma (where I'm living now) in early June and see a block-headed, orange-eyed, black-cloaked creature wistfully observing the heavens, don't be afraid! Come on up and strike up a conversation about meteors.
Matthew Collier
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