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Re: (meteorobs) distance from central vision
Norman, I hope you correct my memory below, if it leads me astray?
Joe, interestingly Norm himself is able to see many of those things
you mention Dr. Seltzer being able to see! :)
I have pretty good faint-light perception (Norm and I have had comp-
arable LMs when we observe together). But where my perceptions diver-
ges from Norm's is in resolution, and peripheral vision: Norm, with
those fine horn rims of his, achieves extraordinary resolution, but
relatively poor peripheral vision. As an example, I never reliably
split Epsilon Lyrae 1 and 2 naked-eye, whereas I have heard Norman
describe them as "easy". On the other hand, when we observe meteors
under similar conditions and we both note DCVs, Norm's may average
under 10 degrees, while my average is generally above 20 degrees.
As a result, my LM-adjusted Sporadic rates are often a bit higher
than (maybe 1.2 or 1.3 times?) Norman's, on the same night.
Clearly, there is quite a bit of complexity in the question of indi-
vidual perception - and likely, room for more research in it also!
One thing which was noted by several posters in past discussions on
'meteorobs' about this topic, for example - is that perceptions for
some people (particularly those with less experience or less freq-
uent practice) will probably VARY during the course of a night. As
a corollary, then, perceptions will inevitably change over time, as
a person gains more experience (or brushes up their skills again) -
but also as they age, and as their physical condition changes.
Does all this mean that visual observations are not reliable? No,
I don't believe it does - but it does mean that analyzing visual
observations requires a LOT of data, to find all the statistical
patterns lurking therein, and adjust for them where possible.
And it also means that honest, careful observation is absolutely
essential: there is already so much variability in human visual
perception, that we have to constantly strive to eliminate what-
ever variables we CAN consciously eliminate...
Clear skies for the Geminids, all!
Lew Gramer
> -----Original Message-----
> Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:26:06 EST
> From: Skywayinc@aol.com
> Subject: Re: (meteorobs) RE: distance from central vision
>
> In a message dated 12/11/03 10:43:20 AM Eastern Standard Time,
> jonesp0854@hotmail.com writes:
>
> << We had a few "lulus" pass
> through the ACAC in those early years who also would make outrageous claims
> of seeing high meteor totals. It soon became obvious, however, who was
> reliable and who wasn't. >>
>
> The former Education Director at New York's Hayden Planetarium, Allen
> Seltzer, used to claim that he had exceptional vision . . . once
> stating that he could readily discern the crescent of Venus and the Moons
> of Jupiter with his unaided eye, as well as being able to see down to
> nearly 8th magnitude!
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