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You’re resolving some fine details there Bill.
Fingers crossed for some mutual events tonight – but this weather system is spoiling the show.
Cheers,
Alex.
Nice one, Bill !
My cameras were clouded out last night after midnight so unfortunately I can’t contribute any data for this one. The perils of our long baseline. Looking forward to seeing your detailed spectrum after processing.
Weather prospects here look better for tonight.
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
Fingers crossed that you get some spectra this month. As per usual, let me know and I’ll check my N camera for any matching events.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
I’m looking forward to seeing your hi-res meteor spectra with your new setup.
UFO Analyser should be able to extract astrometry and radiant data from your HD-quality videos but I don’t know how reliable the velocity measurements would be if the frame rate is variable.
A standard definition meteor video camera such as the Mintron or Watec has an internal clock that pumps out 25 PAL frames/second (50 fields/second) at a very reliable frame rate. Most old legacy PCs can cope with this bandwidth and are ideal for running UFO Capture.
When using a webcam or other imaging camera – especially at higher resolutions than PAL 720×576 – the PC has to be able to handle the data steam from the camera, which might not have a reliable and fixed transfer rate and the files can be big.
For HD-quality work SonotaCo recommend DSLR cameras that can deliver HD 1920×1080 video streams at fixed rates of 50 or 60 frames/second. This requires a beefy PC to cope with the demands on its data bandwidth and storage capacity. The cameras can overheat if they are left running for several hours.
All this is relevant for meteor velocity work, but isn’t important for your quality spectra.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Many thanks Nick. This is a most valuable service.
It was a great meeting with a full programme of quality talks. I’ve downloaded the videos and will enjoy reliving the event whilst I wait for the monsoon season to abate.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Hi Alan,
My dew shields are constructed from sheets of artists’ black card from The Works arts and crafts supplies.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
You were correct in surmising that it was a fast meteor!
It was also recorded by Mike Foylan (Rathmolyon, Ireland) and Nick James (Chelmsford – a very long baseline to Scotland). Combining my data with Mike’s we get the attached ground track and radiant plot.
It was a speedy meteor with a geocentric velocity of almost 60 km/s, detected at an altitude of 111 km and descended to 87 km . It’s absolute magnitude was -3.5 so it would have been a spectacular sight over the Firth of Forth.
2-station analysis classifies it as a sporadic meteor, although the plot shows it originating near the gamma Bootid radiant, not far from Arcturus.
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
We’d have to see if the meteor velocity data could be used for orbital work, but it’s certainly an improvement in resolution for radiant work – and of course spectroscopy.
If it could be binned 2×2 it would still deliver more pixels than our standard PAL and NTSC formats. Good luck with the tests.
Alex.
Hi Bill,
Getting better and better spectra…!
I captured the meteor on my Leeds_N camera and single-station analysis classified it as a gamma Bootid of apparent mag -0.5.
I’ve contacted the NEMETODE team to see if anyone else recorded it, then we can derive a multi-station solution.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
What frame rate and number of pixels per frame are you getting with the ZWO camera and UFO Capture HD? Do you need a beefy PC to drive it?
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi David,
Some of my family are from the North East, so I particularly enjoyed last year’s BAA meeting in Newcastle.
Zooming in to your print version the map background looks slightly blotchy and uneven off the coast of continental Europe, clearly interrupting the line of longitude. Perhaps some image processing was done to remove the UK and Ireland?
Alex.
Hi David,
Being a Yorkshire Lad I only take S&T’s free e-mail newsletter. In its article on the lunar eclipse its visibility map includes the British Isles.
Observing January’s Supermoon Total Lunar Eclipse
Clear skies,
Alex.
Very nice results Michael.
If this interminable cloud cover continues any longer I’ll feel like giving up video astronomy and setting up an aerial in my garden! British Isles’ weather and optical wavelengths are incompatible.
Yes, I’m surprised why we aren’t all keen radio astronomers. 🙂
Cheers,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
That’s a nice example of this type of dissolving meteor trail. I’ve had very cloudy skies and the only meteor recorded so far this year by my Leeds_N camera looks to be your event!
From my viewpoint the meteor travelled from upper right to lower left.
Does this ground map approximately match your alignment?
Single station analysis of my capture suggests it was an Ursid meteor. I’ll ask if it was recorded by any other stations in the NEMETODE network then we can confirm its radiant and orbit.
A great start to the New Year.
Alex.
Hi Bill,
A single station result gives good pointing direction but the distance vector is approximate, estimated from its likely ablation altitude.
NEMETODE members are submitting their October data and we can now combine my observation with that of Mike Foylan (Rathmolyon, Ireland). Two-station analysis suggests it was a slow sporadic meteor of absolute mag -1. Do the following updated ground map and radiant plot match your meteor?
Alex.
Hi Bill,
Another nice one for the archive of spectra.
It looks like I recorded this meteor on my Leeds_N camera. Apparent mag 2, this far distant from the event. Ground plot and composite image attached. Is this your meteor?
Single-station analysis suggests it was an Andromedid. If so, it is useful data on debris from comet Biela.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Congratulations Michael in linking the audio tracks (thanks to Nick’s recording gizmos) with the speakers’ PPT slides to produce the YouTube videos. They are a much appreciated permanent record of the formal talks at the workshop.
Your hard work makes them available to anyone who couldn’t attend.
Clear skies,
Alex.
Hi Michael,
I enjoyed reading your radio data report. I often wonder why there aren’t large numbers of amateur radio astronomers in these misty isles! We got some good video meteor data this August, although many of us had cloudy skies during the Perseid maximum, so let’s see if we can marry up the video data with the radio counts.
I hope your work is on display at Dunsink on Saturday.
See you there,
Alex.
Hi Bill,
The meteor was also recorded by Andy McCrea (Bangor, NI). He and Michael O’Connell analysed his video clip. My single-station analysis was a good match for a Perseid, but our 2-station result suggests it was a sporadic of absolute mag -2.5 from a radiant in northern Cam with a Vg of 50.6 km/s.
Its short path length of 12 km and our non-optimal viewing geometry only give a Q1-quality solution, so there’s some uncertainty in its computed orbit. I’ll let you know if more data are forthcoming.
Clear skies,
Alex.
