Oct 25/26 Meteors

Carl Hergenrother

Rates continue to fall as we moved further away from the peak of the Orionids. Bob notes that “overall rates took a tumble tonight, down approximately 25% from the previous nights. The falling rates for the Orionids can account for some of this but most of it lies with the variable sporadic counts”

Obs  Date (UT)   TotTime TOT SPO NTA STA ORI EGE LMI
Carl 2008-10-26  10h 59m  43  11  2   5   22  1   2
Bob  2008-10-26  11h 07m  91  42  1   11  34  1   2

TotTime – Total amount of time each camera looked for meteors
TOT – total number of meteors detected
SPO – Sporadics (meteors not affiliated with any particular meteor shower)
NTA – Northern Taurids
STA – Southern Taurids
ORI – Orionids
EGE – Epsilon Gemininds
LMI – Leo Minorids

Published by Carl Hergenrother

I am a professional astronomer specializing in the study of comets, asteroids and meteors. This blog will focus on my professional and amateur work in this field.

3 Comments

  1. We were driving south along the Oregon(USA) coast between Bandon and PortOrford. The view was to the south, the meteor came into view at 11 and passed out of view below the horizon(hills) at 5. It’s travel took approx. 2 to 3 sec. It started as a yellow/green streak and mushroomed into an emerald green globe with a thinner waist on a n/s axis just before going out of sight below the horizion of the hills, approx 10′ above the true horizon. This was right near 11PM PDT.. I actually didn’t check the time so this is approx.
    Was this part of the Orionids?

  2. Hi Donna,

    When you say the meteor traveled from 11 to 5 while looking south, do you mean it traveled from near overhead to just west of due south?

    If so, then it is more likely that you saw a Taurid (either a Northern or Southern Taurid). The Taurids are active for all of October and November and are known for bright slow meteors that can be observed at all hours of the night. I have seen quite a few Taurids that appear similar to what you reported. Small green spheres (you can sometimes see quickly changing detail in the spheres) that take a few seconds to cross half the sky.

    I’m going to try and write up a piece on the Taurids and their parent comet over the next few days.

    Thanks for the report,
    – Carl

  3. Carl- I saw it in Monte Vista, Colorado about 7:30 big bright travilng west it was the coolest thing. so bright

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