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(meteorobs) Re: no Geminids SW Florida with more

We missed both of the best nights for Geminids due to bad weather.  But
there was a bit of clear sky in breaks, plus the first hour of Dec 13/14
clear.  Despite over an hour of casual observing across four nights, I
didn't see a single Geminid.  Unbelievably bad luck.  Went out front Dec 13
about 745 EST (radiantrise here is about 730 pm), did 10 minutes alone, then
got Joan to come out; we watched 30 minutes together.  Nothing seen in sky
LM 5.0 by either of us.  Looks like 2003 will pass with zero Geminids seen.


Rainer :
>An observer seeing more meteors is typically sees more fainter 
>ones. This advantage slims if the shower provides a low
>population index (many bright meteors compared to faint ones).

Seems to me there are quite a few people that see more bright ones than
faint, Bob L being a good example.  With brighter showers his rates really
take off.  I can keep up with him on the faintest meteors.


Paul:
>I think oberver integrity can be an issue also.  We had a few "lulus" pass 
>through the ACAC in those early years who also would make outrageous claims 
>of seeing high meteor totals. 

That has happened to me also.  Indeed, the lulus and doozies get screened
out quickly.  On a different situation, anyone caught turning in a false
report is through for life.


Jeff W.:
>Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how many if any Upsilon Pegasids
were seen by Gates in later years?

Gates was with us again in the summer of 1977.  He saw only a tiny handful,
scarcely better than anyone else serious at the time.  This trend continued
until he disappeared in 1981.  As far as his whereabouts today, he is the
only one from my meteor astronomy past that failed to resurface in the
internet/e-mail age.  Either he has totally lost interest in astronomy, or
he is deceased.  My curiosity is increasing, and I may eventually query the
Univ of New Mexico in Albuquerque about Bill Gates, graduate of 1977.  See
if the school has had any contact with him.


Lew:
>As an example, I never reliably
>split Epsilon Lyrae 1 and 2 naked-eye, whereas I have heard Norman
>describe them as "easy". 

They still are.  Haven't lost any acuity yet, and I'm now 57.  I haven't
been able to see the crescent of Venus or the moons of Jupiter.  But I check
the moon every chance I get for naked-eye crater walls along the terminator.
Look for ragged splinters of light beyond the main sunlit line. The largest
show up very well, and I am guessing my resolution to be about one minute of
arc.


Lew:
> my LM-adjusted Sporadic rates are often a bit higher
>than (maybe 1.2 or 1.3 times?) Norman's, on the same night.

Sounds like I recall, but up to two times more on showers.  Lew's perception
increased notably during his youngest years.


Lew:
>perceptions for some people (particularly those with less experience or
less freq-
>uent practice) will probably VARY during the course of a night. 

Gates did the first little study  using our 1973 Florida Keys data.  I have
previously written about this.  Everybody has a unique hour-by-hour
perception pattern.  Gates found my perception to be the most stable over
several hours.  Another intriguing result comes from Felix Martinez since we
had a lot of hours together for a while.  Felix starts off just barely ahead
of me, then gradually increases to 1.4X my rates in the 4th hour, then
surges to 2.0X the final hour.  Mark Adams noticed the same thing when he
and Felix were together in the early 80's.


Norman










Norman W. McLeod III
Staff Advisor
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com

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