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(meteorobs) Meteor Hunt of Oct. 28/29, 2002!

November 2, 2002

Greetings Meteor Enthusiasts!

Thank you Mr. Ed Majden and Mr. Lunsford for all 
your help regarding magnetic and true north 
directions!  On nights when meteors become numerous
(hopefully), I will probably leave out such data in
place of more important meteor info.    

Sometimes I do not know what involves the most time 
and work: going off on a cold, windy night to wade in
a lake and meteor hunt, or to write up a meteor 
report!  In any event, I got the night of Oct. 28/29
done!  Like I said, it was a bit windy that night,
which "chilled" my hand holding the tape recorder. 
Wading at the edge of our lake (Pickerel) is one 
option out of three that I have discovered by our 
house when a good field of view is concerned.   

The activity, like Daniel Gruen's for this night, was
enjoyable but a bit on the dim side.  However, 
a total of 4 meteors within a 22 min. Teff period with
a LM of ~5.45 is not bad!  I could not confirm if the
first two meteors were Antihelion (NTA).
  
Please, by all means, inform me of any errors or
valuable comments, especially with the "degrees per
sec." information that I am practicing.


DATE: March 28/29, 2002            BEGIN: 0:57 UT
OBSERVER: Mark Fox                 END: 1:21  UT
LOCATION: Long: 85 deg. 49' W; Lat.: 43 deg. 27' N
City & State: Newaygo, Newaygo, Co., MI USA
Elevation: 760 feet
Start Temperature: 44 F (07 C) @ 0:55:56 UT
End Temperature: 42-43 F (06 C) @ ~1:52 UT
RECORDING METHOD: Designate Tape Recorder or Manual: 
tape recorder

-----------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS: (Use 3 letter Codes)
NTA
SPO

-----------------------------------------------------

OBSERVING PERIODS:
(On average, 10 sec/meteor should be subtracted for
recording purposes.)
0 = None seen;  / = shower not watched.


PERIOD(UT)      FIELD        LM   TEFF   NTA   SPO

0:57-1:21  *R.A. 2 h 7m;  ~5.45   .367    -     4  
           Decl. 23 deg. 28"        

*Note: This point is where Alpha Arietis (Hamal) is
located, and thus, was approximately where I focused 
my attention on.  In reality, however, my total field
could be broadened more.     
-----------------------------------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:


SHOWER  -3 -2 -1  0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6  
NTA      0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  
SPO      0  0  0  0  0  2  2  0  0  0
Total: 4 meteors   
-----------------------------------------------------
                      
*SKY OBSCURED:

                ~0% FROM: 0:57  UT     
                TO: 1:21  UT

*Note: I am including ground-based obstructions in the
above percentage.  No clouds or significant haze was
seen during the whole period!  Amazing!     
----------------------------------------------------

DEAD TIME: ~2 min.

BREAKS: none
-----------------------------------------------------

LIMITING MAGNITUDE:

                   AVERAGE
            STAR    STAR
TIME        AREA    COUNT    LM

0:58-59      6        6     5.4
0:58-59     14       10     5.5-
1:20         6        6     5.4
1:20        14       10     5.5-

MEAN LIMITING MAGNITUDE: ~5.45

----------------------------------------------------

METEOR DATA:
                                                      
                          SPEED
 #   TIME(UT)  SHOWER  MAG  (1-5)  COLOR  TRAIN(SEC)  
-----------------------------------------------------
 1   1:10:33   SPO     +2    3-4   Yel      -
 2   1:12:58   SPO?    +2    3     Wh       -
 3   1:16:06   SPO     +3    4?    Wh?      -
 4   1:17:31   SPO     +3    4?    Bl       -
-----------------------------------------------------

            PATH     GENERAL LOCATION   *APPARENT
 # SHOWER  LENGTH     (and/or START     DIRECTION 
                      & END POINTS)                  
                       
 1  SPO    15 deg.       And/Peg          SE-S      

 2  SPO?   20 deg.       And;~Peg; Ended    W 
                         Near Cyg 
 
 3  SPO    Short; 3 deg.?  And            N-NE? 

 4  SPO    Short; 2 deg.?  And              ?


* Since magnetic north directions for my area are very
close to true north and for the fact that the above
data are plain estimates, I am considering them true
north. 
-----------------------------------------------------

 #      DEGREES / SEC.

 1        15 deg./sec.

 2        10 deg./sec. or less

 3        ? 6 deg./ sec.   

 4        ? 4 deg./ sec.
 
SPEED (VELOCITY) SCALE: 
0 = Stationary
1 = Very Slow
2 = Slow
3 = Medium
4 = Fast
5 = Very Fast

----------------------------------------------------
REMARKS:

1.  The time recorded for the meteors should be
accurate within a few sec. 

2.  NTA = Taurids (ANT) and SPO = sporadics.

3.  And = Andromeda; Peg = Pegasus; Cyg = Cygnus, etc.

Long trains and electrophonic meteors! 

Mark Fox 
Newaygo, MI USA

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