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Re: (meteorobs) Backyard Geminids Were Really Good (14/15 December 2003)!!
Hey Kim and Meteor Observing Comrades! The Winter Storm that hit our
area on Saturday night and Sunday (all day), cleared on out of Central
Virginia by sunset. Just before sunset, I noticed some blue sky and
decided that I would make an effort to observe last night. Very glad
that I did observe, as the Geminids were still quite active, especially
in my first hour of observing. Results of this two-hour observing
session are as follows:
Date - 14/15 December 2003
Location - 14 miles NNE of Lynchburg, Virginia (rural outskirts of
Madison Heights - Monroe)
Observing Period - 0245 to 0445 UT (2145 to 2345 EST)
[Meteors Seen] - 21 Total
(0245-0345 UT)
0247 Gem 1.0 Blue
0254 Gem 2.0 Blue
0258 Gem 2.0
0300 X Ori 4.0
0302 Gem 0.0 Blue
0302 Gem 4.0
0304 Gem 5.0
0308 Gem -1 Blue-Green
0312 Gem 2.0 Yellow
0314 Gem 1.0 Green
0328 Gem 2.0 Yellow
0337 Gem 4.0
0344 Gem 0.0 Blue
*LM of 6.2
and 50 minutes of Teff*
** Several Cloud Banks went over my observing
area (Taurus to Aries)**
*** Battling some fatigue and one-third of SSWestern Sky
obscured by House***
(0345-0445 UT)
0357 Gem -2 Yellow; 1-second Train
0359 Gem 4.0
0402 Gem 1.0 Blue
0404 Gem 0.0 Yellow
0408 Gem 4.0
0426 Gem 3.0
0428 Spor 3.0
0337 Gem 1.0 Yellow
*LM of 6.0 and 52 minutes of
Teff*
** Some clouds, bright moon in sky by end of observing
period and more fatigue**
Certainly would have liked to observe a few more hours, however a
steady westerly breeze
"kicked-up" and this created quite the wind chill to go along with my
fatigued body. Did not have access to the usual spot in my large
backyard since it was covered by snow & ice and I would not be able to
drive the truck out to that preferred spot. Basically, like most of us
here that are sometimes somewhat "meteor-starved," I took what I could
get out and see! Should my High School (where I teach & coach) have
another snow day tomorrow, I may get out for two or three more hours
tonight. May not get a chance to observe the Ursid nights (21/22 and
22/23) as I will be in Kendall-South Miami, Florida which as many of You
know, is very light polluted. However, I might be up to a trip to the
Keys or Everglades for observing on one or both of those nights!
In Astronomical Affinity - Felix A.
Martinez
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:42:23 -0500 "Kim Youmans" <ksyo@bellsouthdot net>
writes:
> Last night I observed the post maximum Geminids from my backyard
> under a
> more limited LM and with more visual obstruction (trees) yet I still
> had
> fine results in the two hours before the moon became a major
> nuisance. A
> double station observation with Paul Jones was scrapped when
> overcast skies
> remained during the planned hours (7 -9 PM local) but the last of
> the clouds
> did finally blow out by about 10:00 PM.
> From about 10:10 PM-12:20 AM local time I observed 58 meteors,
> the vast
> majority of them Gems including a -5 that was well out of my FOV but
> still
> managed to catch my eye as it went behind trees in the south. Rates
> were
> about 25-28 Gems per hour with LM around 5.4-5.7 and 15%
> obstruction. There
> were plenty of brighter Geminids to be seen. Don't know that I've
> ever had
> such good rates from my backyard! The moon was already rising when
> I
> decided I might need sleep if I planned on working today...I'll post
> the
> full report as soon as time allows.
>
> Kim Youmans
>
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