This morning's
observation were under an ideal +6.5 sky,
the transparency of which really set the stage for
one of the most memorable
meteors I have yet to see -- a
spectacular earthgrazing sporadic that
apparently exited the atmosphere, and which was probably the longest
duration meteor I have ever seen.
It was quite cold
but not as breezy as last weekend, so I was actually
a tad bit more comfortable this morning.
Rates were a little better, too,
with 25 meteors seen
in two hours, from 3:36 to 5:37 AM local time.
Before the earthgrazer appeared, the most interesting meteor was a +5 DLE
that was quite brief
and foreshortened near the radiant. Most of the
brighter meteors were very brief.
Near the end of my watch,
I caught a glimpse of a brighter meteor
peripherally from
the north, directly behind me. I arched back and looked up,
and the show began. Perhaps this slow moving
meteor had been at 0 magnitude
when I first looked up and saw it, in southern
Draco, but as it passed through
Corona Borealis -- moving *very, very* slowly -- it
settled into a +1 magnitude
and for the rest of its flight, it never varying
from that. I got a great view of it,
as it crawled across the sky, with
a one-to-three degree wake, and a very
distinct head. As it continued,
my jaw began to drop -- this one wasn't
about to fade out! As it,
finally, approached western Scorpio, it
seemed to slow just a bit and the tail/wake shortened until, when it
reached Lupus, it was a point meteor sitting motionless in that
constellation! An amazing sight! It
hung, an univited guest star, in Lupus for
another
three seconds, at least. All in all, I'd guess the meteor lasted a good
12-15 seconds!!! I
observed it travel at least 90 degrees; who knows how
northerly it was
when it first appeared in the sky. It was quite wide and distinctly
yellow, with the slightest hint of a train, perhaps, behind the wake.
My impression was that as the
meteor dropped down to near my "eye level"
along the horizon, the
*dramatic* foreshortening to a point showed it's path back out into
space...I was especially well placed as the
meteor had passed directly
overhead!
***********************************************************
OBSERVER:
Kim S. Youmans (YOUKI) DATE: 02-27/28-2004
BEGIN: 08:36 UT END
10:37UT
LOCATION: Treutlen Co, Ga. 82. 24' 25" W; 32. 24' 45" N
METHOD: Tape
Elev. 240 ft
Facing South, sky 0% Obscured
No Breaks down time 1 minute
(P2)
Sol Long 339.076 Mid Session FOV 14hr05 +18
Total(25) SPO(15)
NAPX(4) SAPX(2) ANT(2) DLE(2)
Period 1 08:36-09:36 UT
SPO(8) NAPX(1) SAPX(1) DLE(2)
Dead time = 0 min, Teff = 1.00 LM=
6.49 F= 1.0
Sol Long. 339.064 FOV Mid period 13hrs
40 +20
Period 2 09:36-10:37 UT SPO(7) SAPX(1) NAPX(3) ANT(2)
Dead
time = 0 min, Teff = 1.00 LM= 6.61 F= 1.0
Sol Long. 339.106 FOV Mid
period 14hr 40 +16
Dead time = 1 minute
Showers
Observed
SPO
(15)
DLE
(2)
11:28
+15
TCE (0) 15:00
-47
NAPX
(4) 16:36
-07
SAPX
(2)
16:36 -37
ANT(VIR)
(2)
11:36 +02
Star Counts (older
IMO charts)
IMO 11,12 (both periods)
Magnitude
Distribution
P1
NAPX(1)
+4(1)
SAPX(1)
+4(1)
DLE
(2) +2(2)
+5(1)
SPO
(8)
+1(1) +2(2) +3(3)
+4(2)
P2
NAPX(3)
+2(2) +4(1)
SAPX(1)
+2(1) +3(1)
ANT(2)
+2(1)
+4(1)
SPO(7) 0(1)
+1(1) +2(2)
+4(2) +5(1)
Meteor
Data
P1
Time
Shower Mag. Speed (0-5)
1.
08:44 ANT (3) Speed
(4)
2. 08:47 ANT
(1) Speed (3)
3. 08:53 SPO
(4) Speed (4) train
4.
09:01 SPO (2) Speed
(3)
5. 09:02 SPO (5)
Speed (2) very brief train
6. 09:04
SPO (3) Speed (2)
7.
09:05 SPO (4) Speed
(2)very brief
8.
09:15 SPO (2) Speed
(3) train
9. 09:17 NAPX
(4) Speed (4)
10 09:22
SPO (2) Speed (3)
11 09:22 NAPX (3)
Speed (3)
12 09:30 SPO
(4) Speed (4)
P2
13 09:37 SPO Mag
(3) Speed (4)
14 09:38 SPO Mag (0)
Speed (2) very brief/train
15 09:41
NAPX Mag (2) Speed (2)
16 09:58 ANT Mag
(5) Speed (3)
17 09:59 SPO
Mag (4) Speed (3)
18 10:09 TCE Mag
(3) Speed (3)
19 10:10 TCE Mag
(4) Speed (3)
20 10:11 SPO Mag
(2) Speed (5) very brief
21 10:21
ANT Mag (2) Speed
(5)
22 10:23 NAPX Mag (1)
Speed (1) see notes below
23
10:24 SPO Mag (4)
Speed (4)
24 10:25 NAPX Mag (2) Speed
(3) very brief
25
10:32 SPO Mag (2)
Speed (4) train
1. Meteor # 22 first seen coming from Draco
through Corona Borealis,
passed west of Scorpio into Lupus becoming a
point meteor.
Observed path length, app 90 degrees. Mag.
+1.
Very slow speed; < 1. Little if any
flaring. Yellow