Sept 1/2 Meteors

Carl Hergenrother

The past two nights coincided with the peak of the Aurigid shower. Though this shower does produce occasional outbursts, nothing special was predicted for this year. Still the shower was a disappointment with very few Aurigids being detected.

The weather in Tucson has been hit or miss for the past 2 nights with lots of nighttime cirrus. This will only get worse as moisture from Hurricane Jimena moves into the area. Bob’s been having much better luck with the weather in San Diego.

Obs Date (UT)  TotTime TOT SPO ANT AUR
TUS 2009-09-02 05h 09m  6   5   1   0
SDG 2009-09-02 06h 27m  27  23  3   1
TUS 2009-09-01 03h 43m  11  9   0   2
SDG 2009-09-01 07h 47m  26  21  5   0

TUS – Camera in Tucson operated by Carl Hergenrother
SDG – Camera in San Diego operated by Bob Lunsford
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)
ANT – Antihelions
AUR – Aurigids

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.

9 Comments

  1. Hello,

    On September 1st, 2009, at approximately 9:15 PM. I was in Ann Arbor, Michigan, driving north, where I saw what at first appeared to be a low flying Air plane in the sky at about a 45 degree angle. The object was moving west to east. I looked back up at it cause it appeared to be moving faster and started to curve back toward to earth. Two seconds later it grew a large green tail, about 6-7 inches if I was to draw exactly what I saw on a piece of paper, and curved down and disappeared into the horizon as if it collided with the earth. The night was very clear I did not notice any clouds in the sky but I did notice other planes and stars.

    1. I saw this too! It was an amazing site! I was driving northbound on US23 and noticed it near the Whitmore Lake exit.

    2. I saw the same thing…I live between concord and homer (near jackson)…it was sept 1 around 9 pm…it was moving west to east..looked like it was going to hit ann arbor…it was super bright with an orange glow near its base with a white tail…I didnt see any green……do you know where this thing hit?..thanks..Mike

  2. I’ve witnessed a number of wonderful meteor showers over the last few evenings. Last night [09/01/09], in the north hills of Berkeley CA, I was lucky enough to view two stunningly bright meteors sometimes between about 10-10:30pm.

    The first streamed down quite slow, low and brightly blue-white–“landing” shockingly close to the NW horizon over the water of the SF Bay. I almost expected to see a steaming splash!

    The second one I viewed streamed down from a more eastern origin overhead, above the hills [as opposed to over the water]. It was red-orange and ended in bright sparks. Again, so huge and bright I was surprised it didn’t light up the treetops!

    Anxious to hear from anyone else in the bay who witnessed these and/or other particularly bold showings.

  3. I was driving west on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge last night at 10:00 p.m. and saw the meteor you reference above. It was low in the sky, slow moving, and seemed to parallel the bridge. Like you, I expected to see some evidence of a hit. It seemed to disappear very close to the horizon line. It was spectacular and definitely a treat to witness! I checked the clock in my car. It was exactly 10 p.m. Amazing!

    1. Correction to above post: Given timing of my posting and my description, it suggests I observed this on September 2nd. I saw the meteor I described above at 10:00 p.m. on September 1st.

  4. Meteor spotted in Newbury Park, CA in the Southern to Southeast sky at 11:48PM on September 3, 2009. It had a green tinge at the end of its arc (possibly due to the dust particles from the fires). It was amazing. Anyone else see it?

    1. I saw it in Topanga, CA, and agree with the South to Southeast tragectory, and 11:48PM (I had 11:49) time. It was the largest meteor by far that I’ve ever seen in 58 years. It looked like a blueish green ball of fire with a short, intensely lit tail. I’m glad someone else saw it because I was beginning to think that the intensley beautiful performance by Patti Smith & her band (Flea on bass, no less) tonight on the Santa Monica Pier had blown something in my mind.

  5. “We saw one last night (*3 Sept )in the Bahrain sky about 6pm. It had a large blue green ball and a short bright tail. It was only visible for about 3-4 seconds.

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