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(meteorobs) Radio Geminids from Edmonton
The following Geminid results were manually transcribed from the
Northern Claw Radio Meteor Observatory (that would be the one in my
basement) which does passive detection of meteors on FM 92.1 MHz using a
3-element Yagi antenna and Radio SkyPipe software. Reception was very
consistent over the five-day period recorded, with peak activity clearly
occurring on December 14 UT and a surprisingly rapid descent on the 15th.
(Is this normal?)
I have two different predictions at my disposal re: the peak: the RASC
Observer's Handbook projected 4h UT, Gary Kronk's (great!) website suggested
1510 UT, both on the 14th. I would conclude from my data that the peak was
sometime fairly early on the 14th UT, as results for the evening hours of
the 13th (MST) were *much* higher than the equivalent period on the 14th
MST. This is reflected in the significantly different curve for the Mean
Hourly Rate calculated for each calendar date UT v. MST, as recorded on the
bottom two lines.
I also recorded the mean hourly rate for each hour on the extreme right
column. The diurnal rise and fall is clearly apparent: here at +53°33' N,
113°33' W, the radiant transits around 0230 MST (0930 UT), and sets below
the northern horizon from roughly 1230-1630 MST (1930-2330 UT). Indeed, the
few "hits" I had during this four hour block featured a number of the
biggest spikes anywhere on my charts, suggesting some sort of spurious
mid-day local source. In addition, my evening counts were actually low as I
heard quite a number of hits which were obvious to the ear as signal instead
of static, but which were at similar volume levels and therefore did not
show up as spikes. So the diurnal data which shows meteor hits in the
overnight hours as being some ten times the rate as the mid-day hours is, if
anything, moderate.
I took some pains to ensure the following layout would work in the plain
(non-HTML) text preferred by many on this list, please let me know if it
doesn't work for you. With the 24-hour functionality of my detector I chose
a vertical layout as being the more practical.
I will continue to monitor through the Ursids and will report on those
later, although probably not until after Christmas. My best wishes to
everybody on meteorobs for an enjoyable season, whatever holiday you may be
celebrating. regards, Bruce
***
UT MST | 12/11 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/15 | Total Mean
HR
_______________________________________________________
0 -7 | 10 9 9 22 8
| 58 12
1 -6 | 8 8 13 28 21
| 78 16
2 -5 | 12 9 22 48 19 |
110 22
3 -4 | 22 33 39 77 34 |
205 41
4 -3 | 25 28 41 104 47 |
245 49
5 -2 | 32 37 53 109 43 |
274 55
6 -1 | 37 27 83 87 null |
234 59
7 0 | 33 34 80 111 18 |
276 55
8 1 | 24 41 77 97 26 |
265 53
9 2 | 25 43 74 105 22 |
269 54
10 3 | 32 46 73 119 18 |
288 58
11 4 | 26 34 43 81 28 |
212 42
12 5 | 13 29 null 83 14 |
139 35
13 6 | 20 27 57 63 13 |
180 36
14 7 | 20 31 52 49 11 |
163 33
15 8 | 17 22 24 47 21 |
131 26
16 9 | 9 18 31 38 16 |
112 22
17 10 | 7 19 18 18 4 |
66 13
18 11 | 14 12 8 23 4 |
61 12
19 12 | 12 12 10 8 8 |
50 10
20 13 | 10 5 5 2 3
| 25 5
21 14 | 4 6 9 2 2
| 23 5
22 15 | 4 12 4 7 5
| 32 6
23 16 | 8 6 8 9 6
| 37 7
_______________________________________________________
Daily Total 424 548 833 1337 391
Mean HR (UT) 18 23 36 56 17
***
Mean HR (MST) 18 27 46 45 12
12/11 12/12 12/13 12/14 12/15
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