Eta Aquarid - Meteor Shower

[fringe_dweller]

Originally Posted by Mikezoom

Who would have guessed, it has been drizzely & overcast since the day I wanted to start my observations of this shower. Rain forecast for Fri & Sat too, maybe just maybe it will clear for a quick glimpse.

Mike.B.

Same here unbelievable! what happened to our old sunny autumns??

[astroron (Ron)]

Come to Sunny Queensland, it's suposed to be fine and no rain till next week So I will do another all nighter weather permitting

[danielsun]

It seems that in the last week or so too many people around most of the country must have been out buying new equipment, ep's and accessorys,
otherwise we would have had nice clear sky's to view this great meteor shower!!

[iceman (Mike)]

It's been clear here, and clear predicted for the next 3-4 days. Will have to get up early on the weekend and sit out in the cold.

[Mikezoom]

Who would have guessed it? Did not plan on going out this morning as it was cold, cloudy & spitting rain alllll night and I get up @ 6am for work and its as clear as glass.

[davidpretorius]

got up at 3.30am aest and stayed out till 4.30am

the first 15 degrees of the sky had fog, but not too bad for the rest.

not one meteor in that time for me.

i am new to this, so i assumed I have to face east??????

clouds closed over at 4.30 and chased me back in side.

had a great time, venus bright enough to look like a mini moon clearing thru the fog.

had the scope out and the seeing was terrible! the fog covered the area in the sky for the comet, so 2 strikes.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Clear as a bell here. I reckon it will be cccold in the morning. Don't forget to set your alarm clocks.

[danielsun]

Almost the same here. Got up at 4:00am crystal clear skys with only a little cloud in the south and a few fast moving patches wizzing past but otherwise near perfect conditions.
Sat out there till 4:40 am all rugged up and seen two smallish meteors within minutes and got all excited,so i ran inside got the camera + tripod set it all up went to step outside and DOOOOOHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! COMPLETELY CLOUDED OVER!!! Thick as with no clearing in sight!!
I stayed out for another 20min or so then gave up and got one more hrs sleep before work.

[Vermin (Tom)]

Originally Posted by davidpretorius

i am new to this, so i assumed I have to face east??????

Yep, the radiant is a bit North of and higher up than Venus.

It's marked on the Sky and telescope online chart (you will have to set your location and time zone if you have not used it before):

http://skyandtelescope.com/observing...le_1220_1.asp#

[Volans]

I got up at 2:30am and rugged up (the cat looked at me as if I was bonkers - you're going out in the cold?? On purpose??!!) I waited until just before 4am and saw one Eta Aqr. in that time. Unfortunately the radiant was behind a big gum tree and I only caught the first bit of the meteor because of a house. But the meteor was VERY bright, on par with Jupiter and moved reasonably quickly. I did not observe a train from its passing.

As an aside, I took a few wide angle shots of Scorpius and Crux which I'll post soon.

The weather was perfectly clear for the whole time I was out. It was cold too but thankfully the cat kept the bed warm!!

Peter.

[davidpretorius]

thanks vermin

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Well, I'm here in Brisbane ATM in the city.
But I will give it a go in the morning from a park by the riverside.

[Dave47tuc (David)]

I have had nothing but cloud and rain

I hope for Saturday morning.

[davidpretorius]

i tell you what dave, i have found the option in starry night to show meteor showers and my god there a lot in this area of the sky.

this is bloody good fun!

[Dave47tuc (David)]

I don't have SN, but happy you are having fun with it.

[gaa_ian (Ian)]

Not sure what anyone else saw ?
I was up a bit late at 5:30am as first light came & didn't see any.
Hopefully tomorrow :-)

[circumpolar (Matt)]

I saw heeps. Got up at 5am (slept in) and saw 2 straight away. Settled in on my chair and got comfortable. Once adjusted to the dark I noticed several streaks across the sky. Over the next 45mins, saw about 15 meteors . Most were about +2mag. Several of the brightest one 0~-1 left persistent trains (these were the streaks I could see before).
Most meteors I saw were Yellowish. There was one very bright meteor about -2 going down straight towards the horizon.
I did see some when looking towards the west. These may have bees part of the Sagittarids(Scorpio) stream.
All meteors I saw were quite fast, and most were about about 50degrees or more away from the radiant.

Going camping tonight at the family property at Kurrajong Heights.
Fairly dark skies, campfire, kids and friends, excellent weather and clear skies........Very happy

BRING IT ON!!!!

[Mikezoom]

Sounds like you had fun . I got up around 4am but the cloud was still here. Will try again tomorrow.

Mike.B.

[astroron (Ron)]

I stayed up all night, mist came in about 01:45 it stayed for the rest of the night in various density.NO METEORS sighted, I hoped I would see some lighting up the mist but no joy.
Venus and Formalout and the stars of Grus could be seen through the mist, so I thought I would have some chance .
Gave it way at 05:50

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

I was up at 4am and came in just before 6am. In that time I saw 5 substantial meteors and a scattering of smaller ones. I'd estimate about 25-30 and hour. Fortunately the meteors coming from the Scorpio region boosted the total of sightings to make it a worthwhile observing session.