[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

(meteorobs) Re: Meteor Hunt of December 26/27, 2002



Mark and All,

I enjoy your posts and see that you put a lot of work into your 
summaries. Keep up the good work!

As for meteors #2 it's not possible to have such a swift meteor so early 
in the evening. I would expect the upper limit to be near 10 degrees per 
second at this time of night. As the evening progresses this limit 
increases until near midnight when the apex of the Earth's way rises in 
the east. From then until dawn the limit is 38 degrees per second. It 
should be noted that meteors 25 degrees per second and faster are few.

Angular velocities are difficult to judge at first and take a lot of 
practice before they are accurate.

Happy Holidays!

Robert Lunsford


Mark Fox wrote:
> December 28, 2002
> 
> Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!
> 
> Finally, a clear night!  There hasn't been any clear
> nights here in a long time.  It wasn't perfect though,
> actually quite far from it!  Fast moving clouds made
> observing difficult and recording the sky conditions
> likewise.  A haze popped in and out with the clouds,
> crippling the LM in my field of view.  It was a haze 
> that did not blot out all the stars, though. I did not
> record the LM using the star areas during those times
> for fear I might alter the mean LM for the
> observations, and give a wrong impression of the
> results since the haze did not persist all the time.
> 
> I had a slight question about listing meteor #2 in the
> report as it did seem quite fast, but I think it is
> fair to say that it probably was one, which my senses
> seemed to indicate at the time of the sighting.
> 
> Like always, feel free to inform me of any comments or
> errors in the following report.
> 
> 
> DATE: Dec. 26/27, 2002            BEGIN: 0:27  UT
>                                   END:   1:27  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:  32 F (00 C) @  0:24:00 UT
> End Temperature:    31 F (-01 C) @ 1:32:30 UT
> Windy?: Calm.
> RECORDING METHOD: Designate Tape Recorder or Manual:
> manual (paper & pencil) 
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
> OBSERVED SHOWERS: (Use 3 letter Codes)
> 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   SPO
> 
> 0:27-1:27   *4 h 36 m;   ~5.0   0.93    2
>             16 deg. 31"
> 
> *Note: This area is where Aldebaran is located. 
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
> MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:
> 
> 
> SHOWER  -3 -2 -1  0  0.5 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5   
> SPO      0  0  0  0   1   0  0  0  1  0
> Total: 2 meteors   
> -----------------------------------------------------
>                     
> FIELD OF VIEW OBSCURED:
> 
>           ~2% FROM: 0:27 UT     
>               TO:  ~0:40 UT    
>               0:40 --- hazy
>               0:42 ---~20% cloud cover or thick haze
>               0:44 --- 75+%
>               0:46 ---~50%
>               0:49 ---~10%
>               0:51 ---~40%
> 
>      ~5% or < FROM: ~0:55 UT     
>               TO:   ~1:21 UT 
>               1:21:30 ---20%
>               1:22 ---~30%
>               1:23 ---75%
>               1:24:30 ---50%
> 
> Note: Clouds made the sky conditions very variable.  I
> hope the above information will give a rough idea of
> what I mean as it was fairly difficult to record. 
> ----------------------------------------------------
> 
> DEAD TIME: ~ 4 min.
> 
> BREAKS: none
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
> LIMITING MAGNITUDE:
> 
>                      AVERAGE
>              STAR     STAR
>  TIME        AREA     COUNT    LM
> 
>  0:30:00       8        7-     4.8
>  0:37:00       6        5      5.2
>  0:38:00       8       ~7      5.1
>  0:56:00       8        7-     4.8 
>  1:00:00       8        6      4.8
>  1:15:00       8        7      5.1
>  1:17:00       4        4       -
>  1:18:00       2        4       -
>  ~1:26         8        7      5.1 
> 
> MEAN LIMITING MAGNITUDE: ~5.0
> ----------------------------------------------------
> 
> METEOR DATA:
> 
>                             SPEED
>  #   TIME(UT)  SHOWER  MAG  (1-5)  COLOR  TRAIN(SEC)  
> -----------------------------------------------------
>  1   0:50:04    SPO    0.5    2     Yel.      -
>  2   1:05:17    SPO    ~4     5?    Wh.       -
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
>             PATH      GENERAL LOCATION  
>  # SHOWER  LENGTH      (and/or START          
>                        & END POINTS)
>                       
>  1  SPO   ~10 deg.     Cam./Per.
> 
>  2  SPO   ~10 deg.     Tau.
> 
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
>  #     SHOWER   "APPROXIMATE" DEGREES / SEC.
> 
>  1       SPO      5+ deg./sec.
>  2       SPO     20- deg./sec. (?)
> -----------------------------------------------------
> 
> SPEED (VELOCITY) SCALE: 
> 0 = Stationary
> 1 = Very Slow
> 2 = Slow
> 3 = Medium
> 4 = Fast
> 5 = Very Fast
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------
> REMARKS:
> 
> 1. The meteor time should hopefully be off by no more
> than a few seconds at most. 
> 
> 2.  SPO = sporadics.
> 
> 3.  Per. = Perseus; Cam. = Camelopardalis; Tau.=
> Taurus; etc.
> 
> Slow, frosty Quadrantids! 
> 
> Mark Fox 
> Newaygo, MI USA

The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
To stop getting all email from the 'meteorobs' lists, use our Webform:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html

Follow-Ups: References: