Observation by Alex Pratt: Sporadic meteor 20250101_203604

Uploaded by

Alex Pratt

Observer

Alex Pratt

Observed

2025 Jan 01 - 20:30

Uploaded

2025 Jan 15 - 16:20

Objects

Meteor

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Constellation

Orion

Field centre

RA: 05^h06^m
Dec: +08°47'
Position angle: -25°42'

Field size

50° × 29°

Equipment

IMX291 IP board camera 6mm f/0.95 lens
Raspberry Pi4
RMS software

Exposure

25 frames/sec

Location

Leeds, West Yorkshire (Bortle 7)

Target name

Sporadic meteor 20250101_203604

Title

Sporadic meteor 20250101_203604

About this image

Instead of a meteor cutting across the corner of the field it was a change to get one nicely framed as it shot down between Tau and Ori. A visual observer might have logged it as a mag -1 Quadrantid but its trail was also aligned with the Ursid radiant. They have similar velocities, so the software could have assigned it as a QUA or URS. However, multi-station analysis showed its orbital parameters weren't a good match for either - it was a sporadic.

Quadrantid maximum was expected to occur in the afternoon of Jan 3, so the best rates would be seen in pre-dawn hours of Jan 2/3 and good activity on the evening of Jan 3. I had quite good conditions on Jan 2/3 but Jan 3/4 was clouded out after 20:00. Many Quadrantids were mag 1 or fainter.

Files associated with this observation

sporadic_meteor_20250101_203604_UK000J_ARP.jpg (56.7 kB)

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Graham Winstanley, James Weightman, Dominic Ford

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