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(meteorobs) Meteor Hunt of November 19/20, 2002!
November 23, 2002
Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!
On Leonid peak night, I saw hardly any moonlight...
but no peak. The skies were completely succumbed by
heavy cloud cover all night, making November weather
easier to predict each year around this time. It even
drizzled. However, what was really something was the
fact that once the sun had risen, the clouds began to
disintegrate. Soon the skies were blue, making for
one beautiful, sunny day. Hmmmm.
In any event, somehow I managed to pull myself
together and ventured out during the gloomy morning
after the peak (Nov. 19/20.) It was evident that fog
was starting to form above the lake which I have
commonly used as an observation site, due to its close
proximity to our house. Some thin clouds and haze
were also present, along with the moon which I tried
to hide in the woods. The sky quickly worsened with
the expanding clouds, which, at the end of the session
made me wonder why I even stayed out 0.7 hrs. TEFF.
The meteor activity was very low, as to be expected.
But in my opinion, it was actually surprising
considering the ~4.0+ LM and my past experience with
seeing zilch activity during a number of occasions.
My question with meteor #2 is that it seemed to trace
back only to the end stars of Leo's sickle.
I had wondered if it could have been a alpha
Monocerotids, but I am likewise unsure.
Corrections or comments on the following report are
always welcomed.
DATE: Nov. 19/20, 2002 BEGIN: 8:54:15 UT
END: 9:40:00 UT
OBSERVER: Mark Fox
LOCATION: Long: 85 deg. 49' W; Lat.: 43 deg. 27' N
City & State: Newaygo, Newaygo, Co., MI USA
Elevation: 760 feet
Start Temperature: 37 F (03 C) @ 8:49:45 UT
End Temperature: 36 F (03 C) @ 9:55:15 UT
Windy?: Calm.
RECORDING METHOD: Designate Tape Recorder or Manual:
manual (paper & pencil)
-----------------------------------------------------
OBSERVED SHOWERS: (Use 3 letter Codes)
LEO
NPX
SPX
SPO
-----------------------------------------------------
OBSERVING PERIODS:
(On average, 10 sec/meteor should be subtracted for
recording purposes.)
0 = None seen; / = shower not watched.
PERIOD(UT) FIELD LM TEFF LEO SPO
8:54:15- *R.A. 6 h 45 m; ~4.0+ 0.7 1? 2
9:40:00 Decl. -17 deg. -43"
*Note: This is where the bright star Sirius is
located. I tried to focus on this area, but due to a
number of factors including clouds, I also kept a good
eye on Leo.
-----------------------------------------------------
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
SHOWER -3 -2 -1 0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5
LEO 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
NPX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SPX 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
SPO 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0
Total: 3 meteors
-----------------------------------------------------
FIELD OF VIEW OBSCURED:
~40-50% FROM: 8:54:15 UT
TO: ~9:20 UT (30% due to trees)
~60-66% FROM ~9:20: UT
TO: 9:40:00 UT (30% due to trees)
----------------------------------------------------
DEAD TIME: ~4 min. or less.
B