[APML] Meteor Storm Adventure

[Jon Kolb <jkolb@mindport.com>]

Sorry to hear about the folks who got fogged or clouded out.  

I pulled an all-nighter in the mountains and just got back home.  Perfectly
clear until 2100 MST, then socked in - assumed it was the low pressure
trough that Tony was sending us arriving ahead of schedule.  Tried to catch
a nap. At 2300 MST started to clear, slowly, but could see earthgrazers
through the high stuff at maybe 1 every 5-10 minutes.  By 0100 MST,
perfectly clear again at my location, with remaining clouds receding to the
ESE over the front range!  Meteors really picking up now, all over the sky
and beyond my ability to count while starting exposures.

By 0200 it was maybe a dozen per minute, and by 0300 it was raining meteors.
Big ones, too - exploding in some cases - I almost expected to hear them.
Many smoke trains, several quite persistent, including a huge one in Auriga
at around 0415.  It really got intense between 0315 and 0430, but I couldn't
begin to guess how many I saw.  It very well could have been over a hundred
per minute at the highest rates, but I really have no idea.  Just raining
meteors.  Lots of Orion-crossers, lots of everything, all directions,
magnificent.  

Bringing a chair was a waste.  I just stood and slowly turned in circles in
between exposures for five hours.  With all the cold weather gear I wear,
it's kind of difficult to get up once seated anyway <g>.  Every time I'd
think it was tapering off, there'd be a cluster of fireballs all in one
area, then in another, then a steady stream of small ones.  Fireballs that
cast shadows - I've never seen that before.  Even saw fireballs in the
eastern twilight.  And to top it off, a great zodiacal light before dawn.
If Asia and Australia get double what I saw, oh my.

I shot something over 100 exposures with four tracked cameras and two on
tripods.  Nearly all Fuji 800 (NHG-II 120 and Superia Press 135) with one
roll of RG1000.  The tracked shots were all 10 minutes, give or take, at
f/2, f/2.4, and f/2.8.  Some may have been as long as 15 minutes. The tripod
shots were all 30 minutes at f/3.5 and 45 minutes at f/5.6.  The two cameras
on tripods were rangefinders, so I could sneak up and look through the
viewfinder during the exposure.  I saw a lot of big, bright meteors through
those viewfinders.  If I don't have anything on film after this, I never
will.

I'm dead on my feet, but too wired to go to bed, and still thawing out
anyway, since it was 16F when I left the site.  Dewpoint never got within
6-8 degrees of ambient, and I never needed the Kendricks.  What an
unforgettable adventure.  Clouds and wind were pouring in as I left.  It's
supposed to snow later today.

Sincerely,
Jon Kolb
Adventures in Astrophotography
http://home.datawest.net/jkolb/
jkolb@mindport.com


--  APML Archives at <http://astro.umsystem.edu/apml/>  ---
             Unsubscribe at <majordomo@seds.org>