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

(meteorobs) January 4, 2003 Meteor Observations From California

I had the pleasure of watching the Quadrantids with Robin Gray and Dave 
Holman from the Field Road site in the Mojave Desert. The weather was 
clear and cool and we held a casual watch as soon as it became dark, 
which was near 0200 UT or two hours after the predicted maximum. During 
this time Robin and I saw one possible anthelion meteor (Delta Cancrid) 
but no Quads. I believe Dave saw one possible Quad while he was facing 
another direction. After an hour of watching we napped until midnight. 
Between midnight and one the Quads were strong despite the low radiant 
altitude. Rates continued to climb the next two hours peaking between 
2-3am (10-11UT) when 32 Quads were counted. After 3am Quad rates took a 
nosedive despite the increasing radiant altitude. The strong rates early 
in our session and the sudden drop leads me to believe the maximum 
occurred near 03:00 or 04:00 UT, or a few hours after the predicted time 
of maximum.

The sporadic rates were high the first hour but were in the more normal 
range of 8-9/hr the remainder of the morning. I do not recall a single 
meteor that would qualify as the highlight of the night. The brightest 
Quads all seemed to occur low in the sky. There were a couple of ANT's 
and SPO's that were long-lasting, but they were not bright. There was 
one unremarkable Quad that just happened to pass right by Venus. That 
was interesting. OK, now to the nitty-gritty:

January 4, 2003

0800-0900 UT  1.00  6.44  0 ANT   8 QUA  0 NPX  0 SPX  13 SPO  21 TOTAL

0900-1000 UT  1.00  6.49  2 ANT  21 QUA  0 NPX  0 SPX   8 SPO  31 TOTAL

1000-1100 UT  1.00  6.53  1 ANT  32 QUA  0 NPX  1 SPX   8 SPO  42 TOTAL

1100-1200 UT  1.00  6.49  1 ANT  16 QUA  1 NPX  1 SPX   9 SPO  28 TOTAL

1200-1300 UT  1.00  6.53  1 ANT  14 QUA  1 NPX  1 SPX   7 SPO  24 TOTAL

1300-1330 UT* 0.50  6.27  0 ANT   3 QUA  2 NPX  0 SPX   0 SPO   5 TOTAL

TOTALS:       5.50  6.48  5 ANT  94 QUA  4 NPX  3 SPX  45 SPO 151 TOTAL

*Increasing clouds reduced counts during this period and forced an early 
end to the session.

The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PST + 8 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky. A cassette recorder
was used to record data tonight so no time was lost recording. 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 northeast at an altitude of 50 degrees during the
entire session. No breaks were taken. ANT = Antihelions (Delta 
Cancrids), QUA = Quadrantids, NPX = Northern Apex, SPX = Southern
Apex, and SPO = Sporadics (random activity).

Location: Field Road 116 33' 09" W  35 02' 03" N  ELE = 661m

Bortle Scale Estimate:  Class 4: Rural/Suburban Transition

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity:   36F  (2C)  30%
Ending         "         "         "       33F  (1C)  46%

MAGNITUDES:

ANT:  0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (2) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (2) +6 (0)    AVE: +3.60
QUA: -3 (1) -2 (5) -1 (4)  0 (6) +1 (13) +2 (21) +3 (22)
     +4 (15) +5 (7) +6 (0)                                AVE: +2.18
NPX:  0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (3) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)    AVE: +3.25
SPX:  0 (1) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)    AVE: +2.00
SPO:  0 (2) +1 (5) +2 (10) +3 (12) +4 (9) +5 (5) +6 (2)  AVE: +2.98

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA 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