Eta Aquarid - Meteor Shower

[gaa_ian]

For the Meteor shower buffs out there :P
The Eta Aquriads peak this Thus & Fri Morning (4 am is best observing time).
ZHR should be about 30/Hr.
If you have never made the effort to take in a meteor shower, it can be worth while.
Recomendations: Warm Clothes, Thermos of Coffee, reclining chair of some sort.
I have done this several time's (Not just for the leonids) & it has been an awsome experience in some cases.(noteably the perseids in Aug)
See this link for more detailed Info on the Eta Aquarid's + more !
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/eta_aquaridobs.html

[Sounder]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll definately be up for that, but unfortunately it looks like cloudy skies here in Ceduna for the rest of the week.

[toetoe]

As i have not seen a meteor shower before, i have a dumb question:
is this naked eye viewing or do you need binocs.

[acropolite]

You were born with all the gear you need....except for the meteor.. shower coat..... :whistle:

[gaa_ian]

As Acropolite said, all you need is the naked eye.
Laying on a picnic mat or in a reclining chair, with your feet in the direction of the radiant is the way to go.
I prefer some nice hot brewed coffee (for early morning showers)
or a good glass or Red, a nice cheese platter & some relaxing music (for evening showers).
You may get lucky once in a lifetime & see a meteor storm, with thousands of meteors/ hr.:eyepop:

[gbeal]

Heck,
you Ozzies are a cultured lot, a coffee, or better still red/cheese platter. Good plan though, and something I will impliment next time.

[Dave47tuc]

This is a very good Meteor shower:D

The Eta's are the first ones I counted a plotted for the IMO.:)

I don't do that anymore:whistle:

But meteor observing is great fun. Looks like lots of cloud for me this year:mad2:

[slice of heaven]

Dont forget the potbelly to keep warm and roast the marshmallows.
Looks like being clouded out here too.

Anybody that hasn't seen a meteor storm should really make the effort to view one. Extremely worthwhile.

Watched the Leonids a few years back with the 2 oldest kids and it has stuck in their minds since. Sitting around the potbelly with hot choky and marshmallows at 3am watching the meteors was a treat. Even saw 3-4 fireballs that night.

Slice

[iceman]

I've been getting up each morning this week to try and image Mercury, and see if I can spot the Aquarids, but cloudy every morning so far.

Will try again tomorrow.

[toetoe]

I was up this morning at 3.50am (dogs wanted to wee) light cloud cover over Albury/Wodonga, no good for seeing anything. :(

[robin]

If its clear, what is the best option for photographing a meteor shower.???

1. an EQ mounted scope & piggy backed camera with ,say, a 20mm lens & camera set to 800iso with 30sec-1 min exp or more....

or 2. a good old fashioned DSLR on a tripod, 800iso with 30sec-1 min exposures?

[gaa_ian]

I'm no astro photographer .. but I do know that meteor showers like this one do come in bursts & cover a wide swathe of the sky (90 to 120deg)
So I imagine some sort of wide angle lens, perhaps even a fish eye,on a tracking mount, might be needed to capture a decent number of meteors in an image.
Exposure time ...as long as possible !

[robin]

Thanks Ian.Nice warm nite here but the wind is starting to kick up & a change is on the way so mother nature is in control down here tonite! I'm considering a 20mm f.2.8 lens...

[gaa_ian]

Sounds good Robin ..... I dont think there is a lot I can tell you about photography though !
I have had a look at your gallery, there are some excellent shots there, particully the moon/Jupiter occultation.
Have you had some of these published in the astro mags ?

[MiG]

I'm going to try photographing with 35 mm fl and 15 sec exposures (single lens digicam). Unfortunately I can't turn off the dark frames so I'm only going to get a sub 50% duty cycle.

[Vermin]

:cloudy:

Grrrrrr....

[MiG]

Yeah, grr. I didn't check the sky condition until I went outside at 3:15.
Very annoyed. Stayed outside for 50 minutes and only saw 1 meteor. What a waste of time.

[iceman]

doh I was outside at 4:45am this morning but forgot to look for the aquarids, was too busy staring at the laptop screen imaging Mars and Mercury.

[Sounder]

No good here either. Got up at 4am but it was complete cloud cover. It looks like tomorrow willl be the same.

[scott]

Hi all, I am scott - newbie from mornington Victoria, I was up from 2am little cloud cover but no meteors. 7 year old son wants full refund. Is Friday morning liklely to be a dud too?:confuse2:

[iceman]

Hi Scott! :welcome: to the forum!

How did you hear about us?

We've got a member or two in Mornington, and they're having an observing session this weekend.. perhaps you could make it? Read the thread "iceinspace star party in victoria".

How long were you up for, watching the meteors? The rate is predicted to be at max, 40/hr, so you can only expect 1 every minute or two. I've heard that approx 4am is the best time.. maybe 2am was too early?

Also, (have to ask) were you looking in the right direction? They will originate from near Mars, so have a look for the bright orange star in the east..

[scott]

Thanks for the welcome Mike. I heard about this site through Dave from Mornington(he put a note on the astro australis site.) (I seem to trail him around the internet!). We went outside every hour from 2am for 30 minutes. We were looking north east. I will try tommorow at 4am looking near Mars.

[robin]

Clouds stole the show here too!

[gaa_ian]

Well folks, the story was a lot better here in Arnhem land, with clear skies.
I got out just after 4am & at first I thought it was going to be a Dud:shrug:
But by 4:15 I started to see the first meteors, from then on they came into little bursts (something I have found to be common to most meteor showers).
Counted 15 Eta Aquriads in all, with 10 of them being bright & some leaving "Trains".
Also saw 4 which could be attributed to the 'Zeta Scorpiads" shower, a minor shower also occuring at the same time.
I am hoping Friday morning is going to be even better :2thumbs:
At first light I dragged the Dob out for a look at Mecury, Mars & the moon.
I must say I was very impressed with the view of Aristarchus & the Schroter's valley (178x).
A took a quick afocal shot of it, however with the right gear & exposure it would make a great photo.
The 3D appearance of Schroter's valley, has to be seen to be believed.:stargaze:

[iceman]

I did the same Ian! :D My images of Mercury and Mars are in the Solar System forum. I didn't bother taking an image of the moon, it was a nice visual sight though.

I'll get up early tomorrow and try for the meteors.

[Dave47tuc]

Hi:D

I was up around 4.30 am , had about half hour look, lots of cloud around but managed a few Eta's:D

Firday morning looks cloudy but I get up just in case.:whistle:

:hi: Scott nice to see you here.

[gaa_ian]

Good on you Mike & Dave, good to know I was not the only one out there
:P
I hope it is good tomorrow too ... I have an article in the local paper (with suitable disclaimers :-) & have told the 200 + people on my Email list about this morning's Eta Aquriad experience.
If its a Dud Ill be ....:rundog:

[iceman]

I had a look this morning, at about 4:45am, for exactly 1 minute before I got in the car :D

I saw two aquarids :P So i'm happy :)

[gaa_ian]

You did well Mike :cool:
I looked from 4:10 to 5:10 CST
Score:
Eta Aquraids: 8
Zeta Scorpiads: 3

Yesterday must have been the peak :confused:

[Chrissyo]

I got up at 4am to have a look at Mars and see the shower. Completlely clear where I am, and saw both. Mars still looks like a red blob though. :P

Saw quite a few meteors, several of which traveled a long distance across the sky leaving a bright trail behind them which would gently fade away. I thought it was beautiful. There was another one I saw that traveled the entire distance of the sky, but didn't leave a trail at all. Still looked awesome though.:)

[gaa_ian]

I'm glad you enjoyed the show Chrissyo :cool:

[jjjnettie]

I made the effort Friday morning 4am.
Saw my first on immediately. They were very fast, lots of them just went ffft, don't blink or you'll miss it. But even they left a little trail.
The best one happened when I was looking at Mars, and a nice firey meteor shot around to the right of Mars. Bright yellow and sparkly.
Well worth getting up for.

[acropolite]

Got up with HRH Liz to have a look, but couldn't see anything; mind you it would have helped to look for longer than 10 minutes.. It was zero outside :cold:

[Mikezoom]

Well, almost that time of year again. There is a nice little write up in the current AS&T in the monthly update but not sure which page as Im currently at work. :screwy:

Looks to be another active shower although I missed last years so will not be able to compare.

Here is a link to Paul Floyd's info page on the Eta Aquarids...

http://www.paulfloyd.id.au/amaz/try/charts/2006/May/eta_Aquarid_meteor_shower_2006.html


Anyone else going to brave it this year...?

Mike. :thumbsup:

[vespine]

Oooh yeah! I love meteor showers :) Maybe we should start a new thread so we can track weather and cloud predictions and stuff?

[circumpolar]

I have read that this shower has a reliable Double Maxima. The first Maxima is ment to peak on the mornings of the 4th & 5th and is said to be the weaker of the two. The second (main) Maxima is on the morning of the 6th (saturday morning).

I have arranged a campout with some family and friends on friday night on my families rural mountain property. Should be a great night next to the fire if the weather remains fine.

I will be watching this shower every morning from now on.
Anzac Day Dawn Service is a good excuse to get the rest of your family out of bed at that hour to see some meteors! Most services start befor 5am.

[gaa_ian]

Boy, how time flies when your having fun !
I too will be watching out for them again this year.
Probably not on Anzac day though, I expect we will be still getting the Cyclone Monica induced rain then.

[Dave47tuc]

Can't believe its been a year since this thread was started.:rolleyes:

Just trying to keep it up top so people can remember to catch a meteor or 2 this week:thumbsup:

Good luck with your observing.

[Mikezoom]

Will be out on the mornings of 5th & 6th for hopefully a good show and will try for some photos too, also going to get up an hour or two before work tomorrow morning to try to catch a few streakers. ;)

Anyone else been out and seen any lately?

Best of luck and clear skies to anyone skygazing this weekend. :)

Mike.B.

[Mikezoom]

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

Mike.B.

[fringe_dweller]

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

[astroron]

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

[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!!:P

[iceman]

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. :rolleyes: :doh:

[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]

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]

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/skychart/article_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]

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]

I have had nothing but cloud and rain:mad2:

I hope for Saturday morning.:rolleyes:

[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]

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

[gaa_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]

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:D . 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:D

BRING IT ON!!!!

[Mikezoom]

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

Mike.B.

[astroron]

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]

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.

[gaa_ian]

Well, Cairns was cloudy this morning :doh:
So no major Eta Aqurarids for me this year :shrug:
Perhaps I will get a few on the trailing edge of the shower ?

[circumpolar]

We had the best front row seats at Kurrajong Heights last night / this morning! Three adults, three kids and a perfectly clear night camping under the stars. After 3 hours of spying with the scope after twilight ended, we set the alarm for 2am.

The sky was the clearest I have seen for months(don't get the scope to dark sites often). Straight away I saw a meteor with a persistent train.
The six of us moved out from our tents and layed on our inflatable mattress in sleeping bags with old blankets and pillows and stared up in amazment for the next 3.5 hours! The kids even stay awake until dawn but no wonder......
:eyepop: :D :eyepop: :D
There was a chours of OORRRR... & WOW, DID YOU SEE THAT ONE!
So many meteors with persistent trains, about 2 out of every three bright ones.

After we had each seen about 15 or so the kids started counting out aloud.
They got tired of that after about 50 or so!

When the show was over the adults agreed that we each probably saw about 70-80 meteors and that each of us missed seeing about 30 or so.

We are all very keen for the next one. Such a great night.:D

[Mikezoom]

Awsome Matt, sounds like you had a ball :eyepop: I noticed that the sky was clear around midnight last night so prepped the camera and set the alarm for 4am. Got up and went outside to crystal clear skies so ran inside and got the camera and whala...... cloud. :screwy::rolleyes::doh: Maybe tomorrow morning. :thumbsup:

Mike.B.

[fringe_dweller]

Great report Matt :) cheers for that, sounds like an excellent time.

I had a few looks through what I call 'fools gold' conditions - every one else calls them suckerholes in the clouds :D on sat morn AM 6th local time - it looked like it was gonna clear and get better early on - but it was just a tease as far as the comet(s) was concerned anyway.
I occasionally went out from 2 am till 4am in outer suburban backyard - at times it was 50% clear of cloud overhead mostly - for 5-10 min at a time, as it was freezing cold.
The only meteor I saw was, what we used to call a Sagittarid (apparently mistakingly? some confusion here as the radiants are quite near each other and large[?]) but is actually is called an Antihelion (a year long active sporadic meteor radiant that moves position along the ecliptic throughout year), and they are usually very nice and this candidate for an Antehelion was no exception.
For sat just gone morning, in the hours nearest dawn I read we should expect around 8 (Apex's source) sporadic meteors an hour, 3 Antihelion's an hour, from a site such as you guys experienced - and if I divide 75 (total viewed averaged) by 3.5 hours i get 21.4 meteors per hour, of which at least a possible 11 are not ETA's.
Obviously the counts could be skewed towards certain hours where the bulk was counted? increasing the count for the best/peak hour. But my experiences with shower in recent years (last 5 years i think from memory) would concur very closely with your counts averaged, and accounting for your superb ultimate dark location.
My point is, this shower is sometimes plugged as still capable of regularly producing a healthy 60 ZHR at max and being the only major southern shower. And even taking into account what ZHR means, should still do a lot better than I have seen, and more like what I used to see, up until I think 2001 perhaps (at least 40-50 ETA's an hour minimum.) - I frequently did days either side of max's in the first 5 years, as I used to with a lot of showers.
So when is everyone going to admit that the ETA's have had it?
I'm not saying that it isnt still enjoyable to go out and to spend time observing meteors - coz it is an excellent thing to do any old time - not trying to rain on any parades here, just getting confused as to why its still frequently plugged as THE southern performer - the Geminid's in dec are easily the most reliable and solid consistant performer shower of all the showers, viewed from my latitude here, way better than the Eta aquarid's now.

[Lester]

Thanks Matt

Enjoyed reading your report of the meteor shower. Unfortunately cloud and rain for Eyre Peninsula.

[gaa_ian]

Well Kearn, I think i will have to plan for a SA holiday for the Geminids, I have never seen them, as it is almost always cloudy here at that time of year :shrug:
My big shower is the Persiads in Aug :thumbsup:

[Mikezoom]

Woo Hoo :rofl: , finally after 3 mornings of cloud and bad luck I finally woke to clear skies at 5am this morning and saw my first Eta's. A couple of nice trains which were very luminous green in color which were cool as I have not seen that before. Managed to "just" capture one on the camera but the rest were not showing as I should have bummped the ISO. Pic to follow when I finally get home from work 2morrow. :D

Mike.B.