Sunday, March 20, 2016

Sunday January 3, 2016 - Email Exchanges with Meteorobs


  Just after getting back inside from my meteor watching session on Sunday morning, January 3, I emailed a short message to the meteorobs group (meteorobs@meteorobs.org) to report what I'd seen (and not seen). This is what I wrote: 

  Kind of a disappointing morning here. I was outside from 7:30 - 9:00 UT January 3 with a clear sky and LM = 5.1 before moonlight started to wash out the faintest stars, but I didn't log a single Quadrantid. Three meteors total ... 1 Alpha Hydrid (+2.0 mag.), 1 Anthelion (+2.0 mag.) and 1 Sporadic (+1.0 mag.) Just below freezing with a breeze making a wind chill that was several degrees colder. I hope the rest of you have better luck! We're forecast to have clouds and scattered snow flurries for the Quadrantid peak on Monday morning.

  After waking up, I was surprised to get a response from a veteran meteor observer I'd read about, Richard Taibi from Maryland. Richard has been very involved with the American Meteor Society since 1983, and receiving personal email from him was very encouraging. This is what he wrote, and the reply that I wrote back to him that afternoon.

Hi Paul,
I am a sometime meteorobs poster.  I applaud your effort this morning to watch the QUAs.  I considered doing the same but was too tired (getting old!) to do so.
I appreciate getting your report on what I might have seen and (not seen) if I had been as intrepid as you.  My weather forecast is better than yours for tomorrow morning and if it proves to be good, I'll go look and post results on meteorobs.
Best wishes for the new year!
Rich 


Hello Richard, and thanks for the kind words.
  Best of luck to you tomorrow morning! I guess the experts aren't kidding when they write that the QUA shower has a quick rise and fall around maximum. Either they were quiet this morning or I missed every one. (I always have this feeling all the best meteors are shooting through the sky behind me whenever I get out to observe!) Best wishes to you as well for the New Year!
  Paul Z

  There were other replies to my original message as well. One interesting response came from "Anthony" somewhere in the Eastern Time Zone. Unfortunately, that's all I know about this writer: 

Hi all,
 The Quads are strange. I've attempted them for many years (as long as the clouds stayed away). Most of the time, I've been clouded out. Some clear years, the peak wasn't favored in my time zone (EST USA). But Paul,  I'm not surprised you didn't see any.  That sharp, narrow peak is true to it's word. I've nailed the peak one time in those years. ONE TIME! Before and after, almost no activity.  It's great if you can hit it. This year, I'm favored again, and it should be clear out!
 Crossing fingers!
Anthony

  As far as the Quadrantid peak itself before dawn on Monday, January 4, I ran out of luck. A cold front passed us on Sunday evening, and after midnight we had overcast skies and light snow flurries falling, putting a very light dusting on raised surfaces and some thin patches on the ground. Streamers of very light snow showed up on radar from Lake Michigan through Central Indiana. It was the first snow event of the year, and though it wasn't a storm by any means, it ruined any chances of me observing that narrow peak of this tricky annual meteor shower. 

  I DID end up sending a report of the three meteors I saw to the International Meteor Organization about two weeks later; reasoning that even a negative report (as far as Quadrantid activity) could be valuable to them. 

AM Sunday January 3, 2016 - Meteor Observing Notes


  Beginning of Session: 2:30 AM EST (7:30 UT Jan. 3)
  End of Session: 4:00 AM EST (9:00 UT Jan.3)
  Location: Backyard patio at home.
  Longitude: 86° 03' 01" W.
  Latitude: 39° 39' 39" N.
  Elevation: 255 meters.

  Observed Showers:
  Anthelion (ANT) 115° (7h 40m) +20°
  Alpha Hydrids (AHY) 128° (8h 32m) -08°
  January Leonids (JLE) 148° (9h 52m) +24°
  December Leonis Minorids (DLM) 174° (11h 36m) +24°
  Quadrantids (QUA) 229° (15h 16m) +50°

  Center of F.O.V.: 150° +60° (Between Omicron Ursae Majoris and Alpha and Beta Ursae Majoris.)
  Teff: 1.416 Hours (1 hour 25 minutes of uninterrupted viewing.)
  F: 1.000 (No clouds or obstructions.)
  LM: 5.13 mag. (8 stars definitely seen in Area 3 in Ursa Major. Because of moonlight interference, this was probably 5.0 - 4.8 mag. during the last half hour, but no meteors were seen then.)
  Observing Type: Counting only; no plotting. Used Note-Corder.
  Weather: Very clear. No clouds. Breezy and cold. Some moonlight interference from 3:35 AM through the end of the session.
  (See Detailed Notes)


  3 Meteors Seen

  (Time / Type / Magnitude / Speed / Wake - Train - Color / Comments)

  1. 2:56 AM EST (7:56 UT Jan. 3) / Sporadic / +1.0 / 4-5 / No Wake, No Train, Yellowish Color / This fast meteor whizzed from the Bowl of the Big Dipper to the area of Mizar in the Handle of the Dipper. It was moving totally in the wrong direction for a QUA.

  2. 2:57 AM EST (7:57 UT Jan. 3) / ANT / +2.0 / 3 / No Wake, No Train, No Color Seen / This seemed to come from the general direction of Gemini. Though the speed seemed a little fast for an Anthelion, I'm fairly sure that it was a far-flung member of this group.

  3. 3:27 AM EST (8:27 UT Jan. 3) / AHY / +2.0 / 3 / Short Wake, No Train, No Color / This meteor "beaded" before vanishing, or possibly split into at least two fragments. It zipped north of Auriga and Gemini and I'm 90% sure that it came from the Alpha Hydrid radiant area. This was probably my first sighting of an AHY!


  Detailed Notes 


  •   With the Sporadic meteor seen the previous morning (4:04 AM EST Jan. 2 / 9:04 UT Jan. 2) I've already logged 4 meteors total for 2016, just three days into the new year; 2 Sporadics, 1 Anthelion, and 1 Alpha Hydrid. 
  •   I saw NO QUADRANTID METEORS AT ALL this morning, though the I.M.O. prediction for the maximum of this shower was just 24 hours away (3:00 AM EST Jan. 4 / 8:00 UT Jan. 4). I realize that this annual shower is known to have a very sharp rise and fall in numbers, but this was still surprising. Observing early Quadrantid meteors was my main goal. 
  •  As I mentioned above, I did no plotting tonight. The intent was to watch for meteors and assign shower membership through speed and direction.
  •   I actually had a first session outside this morning between 1:00 AM and 1:45 AM (6:00 - 6:45 UT Jan. 3) but I saw no meteors at all, and went back inside to warm up. I'd hoped that I'd just been outside too early, with the radiant of the Quadrantid Shower too low on the horizon. 
  •   I observed from the lawn chair on the patio just outside the back door of our house. I was bundled up in "full winter gear" with sweat pants under my jeans, a sweatshirt under my winter coat, hat and gloves, and hand warmers inside my gloves. By the end of the observing session my fingertips were aching but the hand warmers inside my gloves definitely helped. But, in the future, toe warmers may not be a bad idea! My feet ended up feeling like blocks of ice and my legs also felt very cold. I was shivering a lot by the last half hour. I was pleased to see that my Note Corder batteries survived the cold very well. I kept it in my coat pocket covered up by my glove when I wasn't talking into it. 
  •   Throughout this observing session the sky remained very clear with no clouds seen at all. There was enough of a breeze that I felt it now and then, and it was even enough to rustle the cover on our backyard grill now and then. There was no snow cover anywhere. I smelled chimney smoke in the neighborhood; this may have "murked up" the sky just a little.
  •   2:00 AM Conditions: 31°F, Wind SW at 14 mph, Wind Chill 21°F, Dew Point 24°F, Humidity 76%, Pressure 29.96".
  •   3:00 AM Conditions: 31°F, Wind W at 12 mph, Wind Chill 22°F, Dew Point 24°F, Humidity 76%, Pressure 29.98".
  •   4:00 AM Conditions: 29°F, Wind W at 10 mph, Wind Chill 20°F, Dew Point 23°F, Humidity 78%, Pressure 29.98".
  •   When I started observing there was a dog barking somewhere close by in the neighborhood, but it quieted down. I also heard the sound of howling in the distance that I first thought might be Coyotes, but decided later that they were (probably) also dogs. Besides these noises there was the usual hum of traffic from I-65. It was a very quiet winter night. I saw one high-flying aircraft but no satellites.
  •   The Moon was a "fat" Waning Crescent in Virgo, about 26 hours past Last Quarter (Last Quarter was at 12:30 AM EST Jan. 2 / 5:30 UT Jan. 2), 40% illuminated. Moonrise itself took place around 1:50 AM EST. Throughout the first half of the session the ESE sky showed more and more of a glow. The Moon was visible over the roof of our neighbors' house to the SSE by 3:35 AM (over the peak of their roof). For the last half hour I tried to use the hood of my coat to block it from my field of view. 
  •   The entire Big Dipper and Jupiter (in SE Leo) could be seen over the roof of our house when I started observing. Arcturus could be seen over the roof by 3:13 AM (with me lying on the lawn chair). The Moon (as I wrote) was visible from where I was lying by 3:35 AM. By the end of the session at 4:00 AM the Moon (with visible Earthshine) was nicely framed between Spica and Mars low in the SE sky. I drew a very rough sketch of how it looked:

AM Friday, January 1 and AM Saturday January 2, 2016 - Predawn Visual / Binocular Observing / Sporadic Meteor Observation


  On the morning of New Year's Day (Friday January 1) skies were mostly cloudy at midnight and cleared slowly during the hours before dawn. I was able to catch the Waning Gibbous Moon shining several degrees east and a little south of gleaming Jupiter, which was itself in far southeastern Leo, when I was outside around 2:30 AM EST. I made a very rough sketch of how they looked in a spiral notebook. It was a cold and breezy night with the temperature in the mid-20's degree F range and a Wind Chill in the mid teens degree F range. Here's the sketch I made that morning (as I wrote ... it was VERY ROUGH!


  The following morning, Saturday January 2, skies cleared out again, and I was outside around 4:00 AM. Jupiter was again shining brightly near where I'd seen it the previous morning (of course) and the Moon was now Waning, just hours past Last Quarter (Last Quarter had actually taken place at 12:30 AM EST on January 2). The Moon was further east between the "tail" of Leo and the star Spica, and a little Earthshine was visible on it, especially when viewed through 7X50 binoculars. Mars was also shining just east of Spica. I made another rough sketch of this in the spiral notebook:



  At 4:04 AM (9:04 UT Jan. 2) I also spotted my first meteor of the year! It was Sporadic, 2.0 magnitude, Speed = 4, No Wake, No Train, No Color. It passed quickly from near the "handle" of the Big Dipper to an area north of Bootes. It was too swift and totally going in the wrong direction for me to think it was a Quadrantid, and I don't know of any active minor meteor showers that it could have belonged to. Again, here's a very rough sketch that I made that night:


  I went outside again around 4:30 AM EST with those same binoculars to get some looks at the Moon, Mars, and Corona Borealis (In case T CrB was having a flare up, or R CrB had brightened enough to be visible. I saw neither star). I also did a quick binocular search of an area just north of Arcturus to see if I could spot Comet Catalina C/2013 US10, but I couldn't pick out anything that looked comet-like. Everything I saw looked like faint stars. Moonlight may have also been interfering with picking it out of the background, if I saw it at all. This comet, the last I read online, was at about 6.5 magnitude, so it would have been difficult through these anyway. I vowed to try again in a week or so when moonlight wasn't an issue, as this object made it's way toward the "handle" of the Big Dipper. 

  It was a clear, moonlight, freezing cold night. No snow was anywhere. By the time I was done the temperature was in the upper 20's degree F range with a wind chill in the upper teens degree F range.