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

(meteorobs) QUADRANTID 2003 Jan. 4th AM report

Here it is! (finally) :-)

For January in the center of the USA almost ideal conditions
for meteor observing.  Temperature was at freezing 32oF, with
no wind.  Being so near the lake I observe at, which was not
completely frozen over with those conditions was worrisome,
and as suspected I dealt with ground fog forming the last hr.
as dawn approached.  I noted my close correlation with Bob
Lunsford's dying off of rates with interest, even with radiant
height increasing steadily during this 2003 display.

DATE - 2003 Jan 3/4  0330-0530 Central Standard Time
           2003 Jan 4th  0930-1130 UT
OBSERVER - Bert G. Matous (MATBE)
SITE - Rutlader, KS  Louisburg Middle Creek Lake
          +38.5 N  94  37' W
28.5 miles S of where I live in Overland Park KS
FACING FOV - East at 60o thruout both time periods
Zenithal Star Magnitude - At :30 time segments starting at
0330 AM local time - 6.35/6.25/6.15/6.15/6.15 
Observing method - Notepad recording without looking
Total Time - 2:00
Total Meteors Seen - 63 (plus 3 casuals during :10 setup time)
44 Quadrantids, 5 Delta Cancrids, 1 Coma Berenicid,
13 Sporadics (incl. 2 NApex & 2 SApex)
(Casual mets. were +2 Ddot cancrid, +1.5 mag. & +4 Quads, these
3 are NOT incl. in the magnitude tables below)

0330-0430 AM CST - 32 Q, 2 DCA, 5 Spor. (1 a SPX) some very
light ground fog forming. [39 meteors total]
0430-0530 AM CST - 12 Q, 3 DCA, 1 COM, 8 Spor. (2 NPX &
1 SPX incl.) [24 meteors total]

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS - Hour 1 0330-0430 CST
Origin -3  -2  -1   0  +1 +2  +3  +4  +5  +6  TOTAL
QUA    -   1   2   3    2   5   11   2    5    1      32
DCA    -    -   -    -     -   1     -    -     1    -        2
COM   -    -   -    -     -    -     -    -     -     -        0
SPO   -    -   -    -      -    -    -    2     2    -        4
NPX    -    -   -    -      -    -    -     -     -    -        0
SPX    -    -   -    -      -    -    1    -     -    -        1

That hour's QUAD Avg. Mag. was +2.5.

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS - Hour 2 0430-0530 CST
Origin -3  -2  -1  0  +1  +2  +3  +4  +5  +6  TOTAL
QUA    1   -   1   -    -    4    4    2     -     -      12
DCA    -    -   -   -     1   1    1    -     -      -       3
COM   -    -   -    -     -   -     -    -     1     -        1
SPO    -   -    -   -     -    -    1    2    2     -        5
NPX    -    -    -   -     -    1   1    -     -      -       2
SPX    -    -    -   -     -    -    -    1     -      -       1

2nd hour's QUAD Avg. Mag. was +2.0

REMARKS - 32oF  NO WIND  Heavy Frost

Couple of interesting side notes.  First was the exact hour apart spacing of
the two brightest Quadrantids, at 356 and 456 AM, with the bright one the
latter one.  Both of those were trained, as were 3 other Quadrantids.

TRAIN DATA - 5 of 46 total Quads seen (incl. the 2 casuals) or 9.2%.
The -3 had the longest train at 2.5 seconds.

The  -3 Quadrantid also came after a 10 minute lull with no meteors.
I saw alot of down & to the SE meteors this time, a result of the
60o E FOV facing.
Really an overall good display.
On colors saw mostly yellow if at all, with one mag O orange,
& a -1 blue-white being the exceptions. 
Really liked the Delta Cancrid Antihelion meteors I saw, they were
impressive crossing the N sky opposite the Quads flight directions.
One of the first times since noting them I have seen two S Apex
sporadics in one session.

Next up is the 2 Lyrid reports, trying to get caught up before the
July events.

Regards,

Bert Matous