Hello everybody,
Our early summer in Belgium came to an end with severe
thunderstorms during the last two days. Doesn't matter ; just had a very
special and marvellous week with many shooting stars, a solar eclipse and
northern light !
We had clear skies during 7 nights. Not all nights were useful to hold
an meteor watch because the higher layers in the atmosphere were not every day
what it should be (moisture...). During the first night on 25-26 may, conditions
were great. I observed a couple of nice and bright apex meteors. During the
second night, 28-29 may, I have nothing special to declare.
29-30 may was THE highlight of the week for me thanks to my first
experience with the northern light. Between midnight and 01.00 local time I
cried it out when I saw rays appearing every where in the north ! I was
stunned ! Northern light is very unique in Belgium.
30-31 may was also a very special night. This meteor watch was
the prelude of the partial solar eclipse. For Belgium the maximum was
visible at sunrise (89 %) ; so the twilight was much different as usual...The
sun rise was gorgeous !!
Here are my results of last week ;
Visual observing report - Summary
report
day : 25-26 Month
: may Year : 2003
begin : 22.45 UT end
: 01.45 UT
Location : Ellezelles - Belgium
long. 3.38 E lat. 50.43 N elev. 120 m
Observer : Vandeputte Michel
IMO code : VANMC
Method : counting ( tape recorder)
-
Field : South east
Observed Showers :
Tau Herculids
alfa Scorpeids
Saggitarids
Interval analyse
Period
Teff
F Lm tHER
SAG aSCO SPOR
22.45 - 23.45
1.00 1.00 6.37
0 1
0 11
23.45 - 00.45 1.00
1.00 6.50 0
0
0 7
00.45 - 01.45 1.00
1.00 6.40 0
1 0
14
22.45 - 01.45 3.00
0 2
0 32 = 34
Magnitude distributions
SAG +0(0)+1(0)+2(0)+3(2)+4(0)+5(0) N
2 Mean 3.00 N~ : 0
SPOR +0(1)+1(3)+2(5)+3(7)+4(9)+5(7) N 32 Mean
3.28 N~ : 2
--------------------------------------
Visual observing report - Summary
report
day : 28-29 Month
: may Year : 2003
begin : 22.30 UT end
: 00.30 UT
Location : Ellezelles - Belgium
long. 3.38 E lat. 50.43 N elev. 120 m
Observer : Vandeputte Michel
IMO code : VANMC
Method : counting ( tape recorder) - plotting
Field : South east
Observed Showers :
Tau Herculids
alfa Scorpeids
Saggitarids
Interval analyse
Period
Teff
F Lm SAG
tHer aSCO SPOR
22.30 - 23.30 0.98
1.00 6.32 1
0 0
7
23.30 - 00.30 0.98
1.00 6.33 0
0 0
10
22.30 - 00.30 1.96
1
0 0
17 =
18
Magnitude distributions
SAG +0(0)+1(0)+2(0)+3(0)+4(1)+5(0) N
1 Mean 4.00 N~ : 0
SPOR +0(1)+1(1)+2(2)+3(4)+4(8)+5(1) N 17 Mean
3.18 N~ : 2
---------------------------------
Visual observing report - Summary
report
day : 29-30 Month
: may Year : 2003
begin : 21.25 UT end
: 23.45 UT
Location : Ellezelles - Belgium
long. 3.38 E lat. 50.43 N elev. 120 m
Observer : Vandeputte Michel
IMO code : VANMC
Method : counting ( tape recorder) -
Field : South east
Observed Showers :
Tau Herculids
alfa Scorpeids
Saggitarids
Interval analyse
Period
Teff
F Lm SAG
tHer aSCO SPOR
21.25 - 22.00 0.58
1.00 5.70 0
0 0
6
22.45 - 23.45 1.00
1.00 6.30 0
0 0
5
Magnitude distributions
SPOR +0(0)+1(0)+2(0)+3(4)+4(5)+5(2) N 11
Mean N~ : 0
----------------------------------
Visual observing report - Summary
report
day : 30 - 31 Month
: may Year : 2003
begin : 22.30 UT end
: 01.30 UT
Location : Ellezelles - Belgium
long. 3.38 E lat. 50.43 N elev. 120 m
Observer : Vandeputte Michel
IMO code : VANMC
Method : counting ( tape recorder) -
Field : South east
Observed Showers :
Tau Herculids
alfa Scorpeids
Saggitarids
Interval analyse
Period
Teff
F Lm SAG
tHer aSCO SPOR
22.30 - 23.30 1.00
1.00 6.50 0
0 0
9
23.30 - 00.30 1.00
1.00 6.50 0
0 0
9
00.30 - 01.30 1.00
1.00 6.42 0
0 0
7
22.30 - 01.30 3.00
0 0
0
25
Magnitude distributions
SPOR +0(1)+1(2)+2(2)+3(7)+4(10)+5(3) N 25 Mean
3.28 N~ : 0
Clear skies and long trains,
Michel Vandeputte
Dutch Meteor Society
Belgian Association of Amateur
Astronomers - meteor section