[meteorite-list] Phantom Geminids
From: David Freeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:37:34 2004 Message-ID: <3A39679E.DB1211BD_at_fascination.com> Dear Robert, Thank you for your post. It made quite interesting reading. We are still getting snow and clouds yet, and will through Monday. On other note, my server has captured a virus sent to me and mentioned that he has been catching about four a week. He noted that virus's are running around everywhere so be careful of odd or unsolicited emails. Thanks, Dave (not one geminid) Freeman Robert Verish wrote: > Hello Ginger & Dave, > > Here are some recent results: > > ============================================= > meteorobs-digest Thursday, December 14 2000 > Volume 03 : > Number 521 > > (meteorobs) Geminids > Re: (meteorobs) First Geminids report. > (meteorobs) Geminids > (meteorobs) Re: Florida hardly any Geminids > (meteorobs) IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT, 12/13-Dec-2000, > GRALE > (meteorobs) life on mars revisited > (meteorobs) 2000 Geminids from Maryland, US > (meteorobs) Re: IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT, > 12/13-Dec-2000, GRALE > (meteorobs) Good FM activity off Geminids > Re: (meteorobs) First Geminids report. > (meteorobs) Geminids from London,UK > (meteorobs) Dec 14 - Where did the Bright ones go? > Re: (meteorobs) First Geminids report. > > (meteorobs) Geminids > Re: (meteorobs) Geminids from London,UK > (meteorobs) IMO's meteor archives (was Re: IMO METEOR > SUMMARY > REPORT...) > (meteorobs) Radio Geminids - 10-14, 2000 > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 10:06:55 -0800 > From: Robert Gardner <rendrag_at_earthlink.net> > Subject: (meteorobs) Geminids > > Last night, 11/12 December 2000, I went out at 7:25 > UTC to my my back > yard which is normally so light polluted that its LM > is lucky to be 3.0 > and sat down in the shade of my garage to admire the > planets. Much to > my surprise in just 5 minutes I saw three Geminids is > sequence of > Magnitudes 1, 0, -2. This last one sent me into my > house to get into > warm clothing and pick up my recorder and talking > clock. Unfortunately > for me my talking clock was in the wrong mode so I am > having some > difficulty decoding times. However I will give this > preliminary report > and fill it in later if I am able to decode the times. > Between 7:47 > UTC and 8:37 UTC I saw 11 Geminids and no sporadics. > The low sporadic > count is due to the fact that I had a 45 X 66 degree > window to the sky, > and a terribly light polluted sky even without the > full moon. Under > these conditions, you can understand why I might be > overjoyed at this > relatively low Geminids count in 50 minutes. I then > took a break, then > moved to the other side of the garage, now facing > east. Between 9:00 > UTC and 9:15 UTC I saw three more Geminids of > Magnitudes 1.5, -0.5, 2. > >From that point on for the next 30 minutes there was > nothing and the > sky > was deteriorating rapidly. So I quit. > The weather in southern California has been so > overcast that I had > not bothered to seek a better observing site and what > I got last night > in my back yard was pure serendipity. > My observing site was in Sierra Madre, CA > 118o03'30" > 34o07'30" > 950 ft elevation > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 13:25:45 EST > From: GeoZay_at_aol.com > Subject: Re: (meteorobs) First Geminids report. > > In a message dated 12/13/00 10:21:02 AM Pacific > Standard Time, > mlinnolt_at_alum.mit.edu writes: > > << > However, I should elaborate a little on the mag -1 > SPO. Its slow, > wobbly long path was very typical of space junk > re-entry, so my > ratio of GEM:SPO may be order of 4:1 >> > > In seconds, roughly how long did it last? > geozay > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 15:05:38 -0500 > From: "Shanley, Jason" <jason.shanley_at_astrazeneca.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) Geminids > > I decided to go out last night and see if I could spot > any Geminids. It > was > clear but the moon glow was awful and my LM was 5.4. > To my suprise I > saw > three Gemininds in quick succession. THey were fairly > bright and fast, > all > were yellowish in color. It was cold 30F so I decided > to pack it in > after an > hour. Tonight looks like I'll be under 100% cloud > cover. Hopefully, the > 14/15th will have enhanced activity. Here is a brief > report > > Location: Wilmington, Delaware > Lat: 39.76N > Lon: 75.52W > > Date Time (UT) Obst. LM GEM SPO > Total > Dec.12/13 5:32-6:37 0% 5.4 16 4 > 20 > > Geminid Magnitudes > > - -1 0 1st 2nd 3rd > 2 2 8 3 1 > > Jason Shanley > AstraZeneca > RmB209 > 1800 Concord Pike > Wilmington, De 19850 > (302) 886 3972 > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 16:00:00 -0500 (EST) > From: nmcleod_at_peganet.com > Subject: (meteorobs) Re: Florida hardly any Geminids > > The moon wiped out the Geminids 2000 Dec 12/13 worse > than I could have > imagined. In early observing for 1:27 hours > (beginning 809 PM) I saw > only 3 > meteors total : 2 Geminids and 1 sporadic. During a > partly cloudy > period of > 28 minutes I saw one casual Geminid. I quit in > disgust at 10 PM. No > meaningful conclusion about the shower can be drawn. > After 3 AM > another > half hour of watching I saw only 1 more Geminid. > During our dog walk > neither of us saw anything. Joan spent about 45 > minutes watching at > home > early while I was at the remote site, and she didn't > see any meteors at > all. > This was the maximum night with evidently almost all > faint Geminids. > Fog in > town came by in a couple of brief periods and then > moved on. It was a > balmy > night, temps in low 70'sF early and 65F for the low. > Most of the > night was > clear, but seeing so little in the time I was outside > did not induce me > to > make any more effort than I did. Hope everybody slept > peacefully where > too > cold or cloudy to watch : you sure didn't miss > anything. > > Tonight (Dec 13/14) there should be something to see > as the period of > bright > Geminids comes by. We will begin about 9 PM at the > Lehigh Acres site. > > Norman > > Norman W. McLeod III > Staff Advisor > American Meteor Society > > Fort Myers, Florida > nmcleod_at_peganet.com > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 16:23:40 -0500 > From: Lew Gramer <dedalus_at_latrade.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT, > 12/13-Dec-2000, GRALE > > Here is the first full report I will have gotten into > IMO and NAMN this > year! > > I'm posting this long form to the entire 'meteorobs' > list, partly to > stimulate > some questions, and partly as an encouragement to > myself and others > (you know > who you are!), to complete all the OTHER full IMO > reports from our > observing > sessions during this past year... > > Note that the highlights of last night for me were > both the > unexpectedly high > pre-midnight activity from the Geminids, and a lovely > -3.5 GEM > terminal-burst > fireball, low in the WSW at 6:37UT, which changed > colors from yellow to > lovely > blue-white just prior to its terminal burst. > > If anyone on our 'meteorobs' list has any questions > about the following > report > (e.g., "What the heck do all those NUMBERS and CODES > mean, Lew???"), > please DO > NOT hesitate to post such questions to the 'meteorobs' > list at: > > meteorobs_at_jovian.com > > BTW, soon to follow will be the first *EVER* IMO > Summary Report from my > fellow > Boston-area meteor observer, Rachel Aubuchon, for the > Leonid outburst > of 17/18 > November! I'll be sending that along some time before > the coming > weekend. And > at some point very soon after that, my own Leonid > outburst Final > Report, as > well as Rachel's IMO Report on last night's activity > will follow. > > Clear skies and many meteors! > Lew Gramer ("GRALE") > > TRAIN DATA - Totals > > Per Shower Train Data > Meteors with trains: 9 > Percentage with trains: 9% > > GEM HYD MON COM Spor TOTAL > Number 5 0 1 0 3 9 > Percent 8% 0% 50% 11% > > GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT SESSION - Use as many lines as > needed below this > one: > > Observed with fellow IMO meteor recorder Rachel > Aubuchon; new meteor > recorders > Aaron Price and Mike Aramini; casual observers Steve > Mock, Chris Akana > & Megan. > Hot & sour soup graciously provided by Mr. Aramini, > Nutty Buddies by > Mr. Mock! > > Temperature during session began at 25oF and ended at > 22oF. > Wind chill during session began at -10oF and ended at > 15oF! > Winds during session began at 25mph G30mph, ended at > 5-15mph. > > ================================================================================ > > INDIVIDUAL METEOR DATA > > Time Mag Spd Shwr Constel DCV Color > Trn > Comments > 3:12:00 > 7:49:00 ** END ** > ================================================================================ > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > --- > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 19:57:13 -0500 > From: "Richard Taibi" <rjtaibi_at_hotmail.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) 2000 Geminids from Maryland, US > > Hello Everyone, > I lucked out with very transparent, cloudless skies > this > a.m.(Dec12/13). > The moon was so bright, and my altitude (~240 ft/73 m) > so low that > limiting > magnitude was +4. I observed from mostly rural > McKendree, MD in the > eastern > end of the state. Wasington,DC is ~20 miles west of > there. > 7:54-9:26 UT Teff=1.53/ 1hr32min Total > Geminids=24, as follows: > > -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 > > 1 0 2 4 4 8 5 0 > I didn't see sporadics or other shower members. > I look forward to swapping data and observing sagas > with you all! > > Best wishes, > Rich Taibi > _____________________________________________________________________________________ > Get more from the Web. FREE MSN Explorer download : > http://explorer.msn.com > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:16:10 -0800 > From: Robert Lunsford <lunro.imo.usa_at_home.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) Re: IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT, > 12/13-Dec-2000, > GRALE > > Lew, > > You put in a lot of effort in this report. One can see > that it covers > every parameter of the entire observing session. This > is what every > meteor nut strives to produce and then takes great > pride sharing it > with > others. It may seem a bit overwhelming it should be > what every serious > meteor observer strives for. I do supply the IMO with > data like this > but > I'm too lazy to retype it and post it to the list. > Instead I simply > post > a short summary to meteorobs. > > I would hope that others bitten by the meteor bug > would also strive to > submit such reports. You need not learn it all at > once! Learn the most > important parameters first then you can add on as you > gain experience. > As Lew also stated don't be shy about asking > questions! If you are too > shy then visit Mark Davis's NAMN site: > > (http://web.infoave.net/~meteorobs/) > > which makes available a wealth of answers about > conducting an observing > session and much more. I might also suggest directly > contacting some of > the more familiar names on this list for direct > questions. I know that > many people have contacted me in this fashion rather > than using the > public list. I'm sure that Lew, Wayne, or Mark would > also be happy to > answer any questions you may have. > > This is a good opportunity as we currently have a > major shower in > progress, another one occurring in a week, and to top > it off the > possibility of a very strong shower on the morning of > January 3, 2001. > > Good Observing to All! > > Bob Lunsford (LUNRO) > > Lew Gramer wrote: > > > > Here is the first full report I will have gotten > into IMO and NAMN > this year! > > > > I'm posting this long form to the entire 'meteorobs' > list, partly to > stimulate > > some questions, and partly as an encouragement to > myself and others > (you know > > who you are!), to complete all the OTHER full IMO > reports from our > observing > > sessions during this past year... > > > > Note that the highlights of last night for me were > both the > unexpectedly high > > pre-midnight activity from the Geminids, and a > lovely -3.5 GEM > terminal-burst > > fireball, low in the WSW at 6:37UT, which changed > colors from yellow > to lovely > > blue-white just prior to its terminal burst. > > > > If anyone on our 'meteorobs' list has any questions > about the > following report > > (e.g., "What the heck do all those NUMBERS and CODES > mean, Lew???"), > please DO > > NOT hesitate to post such questions to the > 'meteorobs' list at: > > > > meteorobs_at_jovian.com > > > > BTW, soon to follow will be the first *EVER* IMO > Summary Report from > my fellow > > Boston-area meteor observer, Rachel Aubuchon, for > the Leonid outburst > of 17/18 > > November! I'll be sending that along some time > before the coming > weekend. And > > at some point very soon after that, my own Leonid > outburst Final > Report, as > > well as Rachel's IMO Report on last night's activity > will follow. > > > > Clear skies and many meteors! > > Lew Gramer ("GRALE") > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 17:45:32 -0800 (PST) > From: Geoff Wolfe <dxer2_at_excite.com.au> > Subject: (meteorobs) Good FM activity off Geminids > > Activity from the Geminids for both the 13 & 14 > December has been very > good. > Mostly pings & small flutters noted but some trains > were heard. One > even lit > the TUNED indicator on my tuner. Must have been a > big'n. Signals were > often > noted in stereo. Frequencies monitored were 91.5 & > 98.5. > I also heard the DOPPLER effect from a meteor on my FM > tuner which did > not > reflect any FM stations. This reinforces my opinion > that some meteors > do in > fact emit their own radio noise. Usually it is in AM > because the tuner > detects a signal in it's IF stage but nothing is heard > through the > audio > output. The tuner rejects the AM signal & filters it > out. Often too, I > hear > brief "hash" or "hiss" noise similar to lightning but > there are no > storms > within FM reception range. This must be meteors. I > heard this a lot > this > morning (14th). anyone else have thoughts on this? > > Cheers Geoff <Cooma NSW Australia>. > > _______________________________________________________ > Get 100% private, FREE email for life from Excite > Australia > Visit http://inbox.excite.com.au/ > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 19:47:53 -1000 > From: Mike Linnolt <mlinnolt_at_alum.mit.edu> > Subject: Re: (meteorobs) First Geminids report. > > On 13 Dec 2000, at 13:25, GeoZay_at_aol.com wrote: > > > In a message dated 12/13/00 10:21:02 AM Pacific > Standard Time, > > mlinnolt_at_alum.mit.edu writes: > > > > << > > However, I should elaborate a little on the mag -1 > SPO. Its slow, > > wobbly long path was very typical of space junk > re-entry, so my > > ratio of GEM:SPO may be order of 4:1 >> > > > > In seconds, roughly how long did it last? > > About 3-4 seconds. It had a comet-like large orange > "head" and > wispy trail. Quite unusual appearance, which is why I > doubt it was > a meteor. > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > --------- > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 08:44:53 -0800 > From: "Ed Majden" <epmajden_at_home.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) Geminids > > The Geminids were a real flop from my observatory > in Courtenay on > Vancouver Island. December 12 had scattered cloud with > some clear > periods > before midnight but no meteors were recorded with the > Sandia All-sky. > After > midnight was pretty well socked in. December 13 was > cloudy and we woke > up > to our first dusting of snow on the Eastern side of > the Island. More > snow > is expected this morning, turning to showers later in > the day. Oh > well, at > least I didn't freeze my butt monitoring my > spectrographs. Better luck > next > time I guess! > > Ed Majden > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 17:43:49 +0000 > From: Leo Stachowicz <leo_at_nitric.dircon.co.uk> > Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Geminids from London,UK > > Sorry ....time should have been 0130 UT- 0530 UT (14 > Dec) > > I'd also like to add that i saw two fireballs ( -2mag > and -3mag)within > a > few minutes of each other which appeared to be a vivid > mauve-blue > color. > The bright meteors seemed few and far between towards > the end of my > observing period(the last hour or so i only saw 2 or 3 > meteors in > total) > > Sorry Mike ...i think the best part of it was over by > the time you > started > your observing :( > > Compared to last years Geminids(this is my second time > observing this > shower) ,i think this years was on par with last year > when i also saw a > good display...certainly in the brightness department > they were > impressive!! > > Clear skies > Leo > > At 05:51 14/12/00 +0000, you wrote: > >I've just spent around 3 hrs watching the > Geminids(0200 UT - 0530 > >UT) from my back yard,and trying to photograph > them.I wasn't counting > but > >i must have seen about 15-20 good fireballs in that > time including a > -5 > >and a pair of -4s.Many occurring in clumps... the > best was around 5 in > 3 > >or 4 minutes,all above 0mag...so theres quite a few > brighter ones > about! > >It was fairly hazy, and plenty of patches of wispy > clouds ,so i saw > very > >few fainter meteors,and only a hand full of SPOs. > > > > > >Clear skies > >Leo > >To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > >http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 13:00:14 -0500 > From: Lew Gramer <dedalus_at_latrade.com> > Subject: (meteorobs) IMO's meteor archives (was Re: > IMO METEOR SUMMARY > REPORT...) > > Aaron Price, an enthusiastic newcomer to meteor > observing this year, > and > full-time data archivist at the AAVSO, joined me for > this week's > Geminids. > > He had a few questions about how all the meteor data > we collect is > used: > > > [Your IMO METEOR SUMMARY was] pretty cool. Kind of > like our [variable > > star] observer reports, but a little more detailed I > think. > > It probably is a little more detailed, Aaron - if only > because it's > intended > to cover both a larger amount of raw data per report, > and because there > are > (unfortunately) so many correction factors to be > recorded in visual > meteors. > > > Does someone at IMO keep track of these things in a > database? > > Absolutely they do! The IMO Visual Commission [I > believe they also have > Video, > Radio, Telescopic & Photographic Commissions] > maintains a database of > reports > collected around the world from 1984 onward, using > their standard > methodology. > > The data for 1984-1998 is available online right now. > It includes 1.56 > million > meteors, observed during over 80,000 hours, submitted > via over 67,000 > reports. > (I am unsure where online you can find the TOTAL > archive for > 1999-2000... ?) > > The archiving technology for the data is rather "time > honored" (dBase) > and it > DOESN'T yet incorporate the massive archive of pre-IMO > visual data > maintained > by the American Meteor Society, which stretches back > to the early > 1900s! But > what is available there is used in the analysis behind > (I'm just > guessing) 20 > or more publications in professional and pro-amateur > journals each > year. > > > How is [this database] accessible by others? > > Have a look for yourself on the Web. Pre-1999 raw data > is at: > > http://www.imo.net/visual/vmdb.html > > Some analytical methods papers and published analyses > are at: > > http://www.imo.net/articles/results.html > > In addition, there is a database called "VISDAT" of > PLOTTED meteor > positions. > This allows detailed analysis of radiant structures > for both major and > minor > (in some cases, VERY minor) showers. This database, > written by Janko > Richter, > is directly accessible to users. Find out more about > it at: > > http://www.imo.net/software/visdat > > And if you're interested in finding out more > information about any of > the many > other observing and analysis projects carried out by > the IMO, the AMS, > our own > "North American Meteor Network" (NAMN), and other > national > organizations, see: > > http://www.imo.net > > http://www.amsmeteors.org > > http://web.infoave.net/~meteorobs > > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs > > Clear skies! > Lew Gramer > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > Date: Thu, 14 Dec 2000 15:18:12 -0400 > From: mboschat_at_ns.sympatico.ca (Micheal Boschat) > Subject: (meteorobs) Radio Geminids - 10-14, 2000 > > Observer: Michael Boschat > Location: Halifax, Canada (63 36'W, 44 39'N, 58 meters > above sea level) > Listening Frequency: 83.24 MHz > Receiver: Icom R-10 > Antenna : resonant dipole > Antenna Direction: Horizontally polarized with lobes > in E-W plane, elev > 0 > deg > Filter : high-Q (Q at least 300) bandpass filter > between antenna & > receiver. > Listening Mode: CW > Recording method: listening by ear > > DECEMBER 2000 > > Date UT #/hr > - ------------------------------------------ > 10 1200-1300 12 > 1300-1400 10 > 1400-1500 27 > 1500-1600 16 > 1600-1700 13 > 0200-0300 24 > 11 1000-1100 26 > 1100-1200 31 > 1200-1300 17 > 1300-1400 29 > 1400-1500 32 > 1500-1600 15 > 0200-0300 24 > 12 1000-1100 14 > 1100-1200 37 > 1200-1300 -- > 1300-1400 27 > 1400-1500 -- > 1500-1600 -- > 1600-1700 8 > 0200-0300 16 > 0200-0300 28 > 13 1000-1100 28 > 1100-1200 41 > 1200-1300 79 > 1300-1400 82 > 1400-1500 50 > 1500-1600 26 > 0100-0200 8 > 0200-0300 15 > 0300-0400 33 > 14 1100-1200 12 > 1200-1300 6 > 1300-1400 13 > 1400-1500 6 > > To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use > the Web form at: > http://www.tiac.net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html > > ------------------------------ > > End of meteorobs-digest V3 #521 > ******************************* > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! 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