It has been way too long since I’ve updated this blog. Due to the constant juggle of work, family and other volunteer astronomical endeavors, updating this blog has often fallen to the bottom of the priority list. Even though this is often the case, I continue to observe comets (and coordinate the ALPO Comet Section) and run my SALSA3 meteor camera system (still part of the IMO Video Network using the MetRec meteor detection software).
The spring is usually the doldrums for meteor observing as their are few major showers and low numbers of sporadic meteors. Early May is a bit of a spring anomaly as there is a major shower active, the Comet Halley-produced Eta Aquariids (ETA). Last night my camera detected 25 meteors of which 6 were ETAs. ETA numbers should slowly increase as we approach the ETA peak on the night of May 4/5.
Obs Date(UT) Time TOT SPO XLI ABO PBO ETA SAL 2017-05-01 09h 20m 25 15 2 0 0 6 SAL - SALSA3 camera in Tucson (Carl Hergenrother) VIS - Visual observations from Tucson (Carl Hergenrother) Time - 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) XLI - April Chi Librids ABO - Alpha Bootids PBO - Phi Bootids ETA - Eta Aquariids Oth - other minor showers
The Transient Sky - Comets, Asteroids, Meteors 