Hi All, Probably I'll head to Ye Olde Gravel Pit tonight or early tomorrow. Can anyone sees the meteors email me a brief description for a story I am planning for Friday's paper? Even if it's just,"Man, that was a dud! Nothing like the buildup!" Or a couple of sentences about something memorable. The address is bau@desnews.com. Just make sure you give me your name, where you live (city or town, nothing more specific) and where you watched. Many thanks, Joe
From up on my roof in Stansbury Park it was an ok show but not a show stopper. Rates were low when I first ventured out about 2 a.m. with numbers picking up to maybe 50 per hour by 3. Dropped down a bit around 4 but then got fairly exciting in the minutes leading up to and following 5 am when rates rose to about 80 per hour. I did not see any color. All were white. A few left trains but they were in the minority. There were no really bright ones but a couple made it to maybe -2. There were a number of meteor pairs that appeared at the same time. There was one very bright (`-3) point source flash that got my attention. I initially thought it was a head on meteor until it was followed by another and another, all moving slowing across the sky. Turned out to be a tumbling satellite. And being swooped by one of the bats from my resident bat colony was fun. But the scene I liked the best was turning around to the east just as Venus crawled over the horizon off to the right of the Moon. Very pretty. and now it's off to bed. I've a hot date with a couple of propellers later this afternoon... Patrick Joe Bauman wrote:
Hi All, Probably I'll head to Ye Olde Gravel Pit tonight or early tomorrow. Can anyone sees the meteors email me a brief description for a story I am planning for Friday's paper? Even if it's just,"Man, that was a dud! Nothing like the buildup!" Or a couple of sentences about something memorable. The address is bau@desnews.com. Just make sure you give me your name, where you live (city or town, nothing more specific) and where you watched. Many thanks, Joe
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I agree with Patrick, this was merely run-of-the-mill, maybe even less so. Observing from the middle of the valley, I missed many of the dimmer meteors, only seeing one every 5 minutes or so. (less than 20/hr.) I was VERY skeptical about the press calling this year's conditions "ideal". They weren't. The crescent moon would interefere with wide-field photography, especially near the peak. Come-on folks, a waning moon is never good news for a meteor shower. Next time I stay-up like this, I'm taking a telescope with me. I was truly "underwhelmed". --- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:
From up on my roof in Stansbury Park it was an ok show but not a show stopper.
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Sure, Joe, if you think this is really news-worthy. Glad you got a few good shots. I didn't even take out my astrophoto setup once I realized what the moon's position would be. --- Joe Bauman <bau@desnews.com> wrote:
Chuck, OK'f I quote you? -- Joe
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I tried the laser, Ann, but I guess the trees and buildings blocked my sight line. At least you experienced the "shower" part of the meteor shower! C. --- "Ann C. House" <ann@annhouse.org> wrote:
From the foothills directly north of the city, I did not see any meteors. Too much light. I didn't even see Chuck's red laser, assuming he was able to shine it my way. I did get wet when the sprinklers at the park came on.
-A
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Actually, Chuck, only one shot on my roll of film shows any meteor action. However, some photos were cut short before they could record much because I didn't want to waste time after headlights blasted my camera. It was really frustrating at Little Mountain, with cars coming, going and sitting around with lights on. For some folks it was like a star party where you forget about the stars. To say nothing of the loud, obscene (really, really obscene) conversation in one area. I wasn't shocked because I'm so old nothing surprises me. But I don't know about others who were there. Also there were nice, quiet, friendly observers. One man told me it was the 10th anniversary from when he was married. I asked if he was still married and he said no but the stars are still there. I thought that was poignant. -- Joe
Chuck Hards wrote:
I was VERY skeptical about the press calling this year's conditions "ideal".
Believe it or not, when they said that many were quoting Sky & Telescope (who _obviously_ should know better). I'd expect that sort of sensationalism from Astronomy but not S&T. Patrick
I wouldn't call it sensationalism, but whomever wrote that obviously is not an imager and lacks meteor shower experience. The high cirrus that blew-in close to the peak wasn't very nice, either. Personally I wouldn't mind if the press just left meteor showers alone. Then sites like Little Mountain would be useful again. Let the masses sleep- it's a case of pearls before swine. And this time the pearls weren't that shiny anyway. --- Patrick Wiggins <paw@trilobyte.net> wrote:
Chuck Hards wrote:
I was VERY skeptical about the press calling this year's conditions "ideal".
Believe it or not, when they said that many were quoting Sky & Telescope (who _obviously_ should know better). I'd expect that sort of sensationalism from Astronomy but not S&T.
Patrick
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participants (4)
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Ann C. House -
Chuck Hards -
Joe Bauman -
Patrick Wiggins