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Re: (meteorobs) No Quadrantid Peak From MI/Quadrantid Flashes?

Mark and everyone,

          It wouldn't be necessary for the flashes you describe to be near
the radiant for them to have been Quadrantid fireballs.  But  the date of
your observation (Dec 31/Jan 1) makes that less likely.  Minor shower or
sporadic fireballs, or some other source, would be far more likely in my
opinion. On peak nights for major showers, it's not unusual to see bright
flashes light up the ground or trees but never actually see the source.  I
personally saw pine trees "light up" very quickly Friday night and had an
independent witness.  I also saw  -2 and -1 "*fireballs*" right at the
horizon -- given magnitude extinction at that elevation, no doubt these
would have bee quite impressive had they appeared overhead!
          Keep up the good work, Mark.  One night you're going to see a
bolide's terminal burst light up the entire sky with glory and you'll be
genuinely hooked on meteor observing!

Kim Y.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Fox" <unclefireballmtf@yahoo.com>
To: <meteorobs@atmob.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 1:40 PM
Subject: (meteorobs) No Quadrantid Peak From MI/Quadrantid Flashes?


> Jan. 5, 2003
>
> Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!
>
> The "Quads" were smothered here by clouds.  No peak,
> or post peak will be seen it looks like.  The sky is
> blanketed with clouds even now as I write this.
>
> In any event, I just read Kim S. Youmans Quadrantid
> report with interest.  It just occurred to me that
> when I observed on Dec. 31,2002/Jan. 1, 2003, I had
> noticed at least three very swift flashes that all
> "could" have originated near the Quadrantid area of
> the sky.  Keep in mind that the radiant was located at
> or very close to the horizon at the time.  I didn't
> know what to make of them since they were so fast.
> They lasted only a few tenths of a second, and could
> have been easily overlooked.
>
> Is it possible that they could have actually been
> meteors after all?  Perhaps they were the meteor
> equivalents to "heat lightning?"
>
> Many sudden delta Cancrid outbursts!
>
> Mark Fox
> Newaygo, MI USA
>
> --- ksyo@bellsouthdot net wrote:
> >     The clouds here refused to dissipate until
> > sometimes after midnight.  I "took a nap" at
> > midnight, waiting for the skies to clear.   I meant
> > to doze for twenty or thirty minutes but instead did
> > not wake up until 1:30 AM local time!!
> > But the weather had cleared revealing a +6 and
> > better sky.  I hurried out to my sight and was
> > observing by 7:06 UT and was able to get three
> > periods in until around the beginning of a planned
> > fourth period, when deer hunters interrupted me and
> > I lost over fifteen minutes time.  I wound up with
> > three usable periods.
> >     Not as impressive given that I was observing
> > them several hours after the peak, the quads still
> > put on a fine show.  I has a fair mix of bright and
> > dim meteors, but any fireballs were seen either on
> > the horizon or as flashes which both myself and my
> > observing partner saw.  So there were fireballs, I
> > just never got to see one directly.  The Quad rates
> > grew by roughly 10 per hour from hour to hour
> > (16/27/37) and rates were still quite good during my
> > interrupted fourth hour.
> > But I never got the higher rates I saw in 2001.  The
> > SPO rates were rather strong between 8:00 and 10:30
> > UT.  And it was COLD!!  My thermometer read 29
> > degrees (F) at 4:30 AM local time.  All in all it
> > was a very good observing session and given that
> > I've been able to catch the Quadrantids on three out
> > of four attempts in the past four years, I'm not
> > disappointed at all.
>
>
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