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(meteorobs) September 12, 2002 Meteor Observations From California
After being clouded out the previous week by tropical clouds the weather
was much more cooperative this week. I was looking forward to getting
out and viewing any activity from the Arietids/Triangulids and the
Taurid radiant which was mentioned in the September issue of Sky and
Telescope. Since I was well rested I opted for an early start of 10:00pm
local daylight time. It's a good thing I was not tired as the activity
was low during the first 3 hours. It finally picked up between 2:00 and
3:00 local time when 12 meteors were counted. Instead of climbing even
higher, rates fell during the last two hours. I know I did not fall
asleep during this period but I was definitely fatigued. The lack of
activity certainly didn't get the adrenaline going. This certainly was
not a typical September morning. It was clear all the way to the coast
which allowed the light pollution to pour into the western sky.
Conditions were decent in the eastern half of the sky but the meteor
activity just was not there. The apex radiants were active producing 7
of the 39 meteors seen tonight. Surprisingly, no antihelion activity was
seen. This is especially strange since I was out so early when these
meteors are normally at their best. The September Perseids were few and
far between producing only 4 meteors during the 6 and a half hour
session. The Aries/Triangulids were a bit better producing 5 meteors. 4
of the 5 meteors traced back to the main radiant near Alpha Triangulum.
The "September Taurids" produced 3 possible shower members. There were
others that lined up with the radiant but were either too fast or too
slow for their position in relation to the radiant. After being spoiled
in August, tonight's effort was a bit frustrating.
September 12, 2002
0600-0702 UT 1.00 6.53 1 SPR 1 TAU 2 SPO 4 TOTAL
0702-0804 UT 1.00 6.59 1 NPX 3 SPO 4 TOTAL
0804-0906 UT 1.00 6.56 1 ARI 1 TRI 1 SPX 1 SPO 4 TOTAL
0906-1012 UT 1.00 6.48 1 SPR 3 TRI 1 TAU 1 NPX 2 SPX 4 SPO 12 TOTAL
1012-1115 UT 1.00 6.46 1 SPR 1 TAU 6 SPO 8 TOTAL
1115-1230 UT 1.21 6.14 1 SPR 1 NPX 1 SPX 4 SPO 7 TOTAL
TOTALS: 6.21 6.45 1 ARI 4 SPR 3 TAU 4 TRI 3 NPX 4 SPX
20 SPO 39 TOTAL
The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PST + 7 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky. Time was lost for
plotting and data entry tonight. The third column gives the average
limiting magnitude estimated during each period. The last several
columns list the activity seen during each period. I was facing east at
an altitude of 60 degrees during the entire session. No breaks were
taken. ARI = Arietids, SPR = September Perseids, TAU = September
Taurids, TRI = Triangulids, NPX = Northern Apex, SPX = Southern Apex,
and SPO = Sporadics (random activity).
Location: Deerhorn Valley 116 45' 21" W 32 41' 21" N ELE = 667 m
Bortle Scale Estimate: Class 4 (Rural/Suburban Transition)
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 59 F (15 C) 46%
Ending " " " 56 F (13 C) 44%
MAGNITUDES:
ARI: 0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +3.00
SPR: 0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (2) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +1.67
TAU: 0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (2) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +2.25
TRI: 0 (0) +1 (2) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +2.00
NPX: 0 (1) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +2.00
SPX: 0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0) AVE: +2.50
SPO: -2(2) 0 (1) +1 (3) +2 (6) +3 (2) +4 (5) +5 (1) +6 (1) AVE: +2.50
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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