Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - December 2006
=======================================================
Last month we could welcome another new observer in the IMO network. Biondani
Roberto from Verona, who is trained by Flavio Castellani, is the fourth
observer south of the Alps, which brings Italy up to second place with respect
to the number of observers.
In any case, December was a worthy finish of the most successful year in the
history of the video network. Especially thanks to the Geminids, the records
of October 2006 were almost broken. Observers in northern and western Europe
were often displeased by the weather, but near the Alps the observers could
enjoy high air pressure systems presenting clear skies, but sometimes also
persistent fog.
Just in time for the Geminids, skies cleared at many sites, so that one or the
other observer was able to give their annual result a final kick. Since the
Geminids are on average quite bright, there was only a small gap between
intensified and non-intensified cameras this time. The best results were 609
(AVIS2) vs. 413 (MIN38) meteors in a single night. On December 13 alone, we
collected more than 3500 meteor records - as many as only during the Leonid
storms before.
During the Ursids some days later, there were again a few sites with more than
twelve hours of clear night skies.
An overall of four observers managed to collect more than 20 observing nights
in December, and with almost 1700 hours of effective observing time, last month
ranked third behind October and September 2006. With more than 13500 meteors,
we missed the October result by only a few hundred meteors.
Thanks to the pleasant observing conditions it was possible to derive activity
profiles for both the Geminids and Ursids. The following analysis is based on
only those cameras with clear skies all night long (Geminids: AKM2, AVIS2,
BMH1, FIAMENE, METKA, MIN38, MINCAM1 and SRAKA with 2218 GEM and 415 SPO
altogether; Ursids: AKM2, AVIS2, BMH1, MIN38 and MINCAM1 with 151 URS and
267 SPO altogether). Meteor counts were summed in half hour intervals,
corrected by the radiant altitude, and averaged between the cameras.
The Geminids showed a significant increase of the corrected hourly rate in the
evening hours of December 13 until about midnight. Highest activity occured in
the 00:00-00:30 UT time interval. Thereafter the activity remained at a
constantly high level until dawn. That agrees well with the rapid analysis
of visual data at the IMO homepage showing highest rates between 00 and
01 UT as well.
For the Ursids, there were predictions for enhanced rates at different times
in the evening of December 22. Due to the lower meteor counts, the picture is
less clear than for the Geminids. We observed highest rates right in the
evening twilight (17:00-17:30 UT). After a short break, there was a second
peak in the 21:30-22:00 time interval, and after that the rates went down
systematically. By about 02 UT on December 23, the shower was almost gone.
Thus, our video data confirm significantly enhanced activity in the evening
hours of December 22, but we cannot confirm or disprove the predicted
individual peak times.
Time 13./14.12.2006 22./23.12.2006
[UT] GEM/h/sin(HR) SPO/h URS/h/sin(HR) SPO/h
-------------------------------------------------------
17:00-17:30 13.9 3.5
17:30-18:00 29.6 2.4 10.1 1.6
18:00-18:30 29.4 8.0 4.3 1.6
18:30-19:00 39.1 1.1 7.4 3.2
19:00-19:30 41.0 3.5 6.0 1.6
19:30-20:00 37.8 4.0 8.9 2.4
20:00-20:30 45.9 2.5 4.5 3.2
20:30-21:00 57.5 5.5 8.8 4.0
21:00-21:30 53.6 7.0 10.0 4.8
21:30-22:00 67.8 6.0 12.5 4.0
22:00-22:30 57.6 4.5 4.1 5.6
22:30-23:00 66.9 6.5 8.1 2.4
23:00-23:30 64.4 9.5 5.1 3.2
23:30-00:00 69.1 4.5 8.9 4.0
00:00-00:30 75.4 10.5 7.4 4.8
00:30-01:00 65.7 15.0 5.9 8.8
01:00-01:30 68.1 9.5 3.4 4.8
01:30-02:00 56.7 11.0 5.5 10.4
02:00-02:30 57.6 12.5 3.2 16.8
02:30-03:00 66.3 16.5 1.1 13.6
03:00-03:30 71.7 16.5 2.0 8.8
03:30-04:00 64.7 14.0 2.4 14.0
04:00-04:30 67.0 11.0 1.2 8.0
04:30-05:00 63.5 14.9 1.3 6.0
05:00-05:30 68.6 17.1
-------------------------------------------------------
Let's now come to the overall statistics for 2006: As mentioned earlier,
the last year outshined everything before. 19 observers (2005: 17) from
9 countries (2005: 9) contributed in the course of the year with an overall
of 28 cameras (2005: 23) to the video network. By the end of 2006, there were
12 observers active in virtually every clear night.
Especially thanks to the growning number of automated systems we were able for
the very first time to record meteors in every single night of the year
(2005: 356 nights). The effective observing time jumped to almost 15000 hours
(2005: 9543), and with almost 70000 meteors we were more successful than in
the previous two years together (2005: 40784). On average, 4.7 meteors were
recorded per hours (2005: 4.3).
Looking at the seasonal distribution we see the usual increase in effective
observing time and meteor records in the second half of the year. However,
whereas August is traditionally the most beloved meteor time, it remained far
behind the expectations in 2006 due to poor weather. On the other hand, the
outcome in September and October jumped to previously unknown heights, and also
the last two months of 2006 did not need to hole up.
Month # Observing Eff. Observing # Meteors Meteors/Hour
Nights Time [h]
------------------------------------------------------------
January 31 1287.1 3353 2.6
February 28 674.5 1480 2.2
March 31 874.0 1933 2.2
April 30 830.8 2330 2.8
May 31 731.2 1732 2.4
June 30 677.5 1971 2.9
July 31 1364.4 6585 4.8
August 31 1021.0 6591 6.5
September 30 2041.7 8756 4.3
October 31 2125.0 14173 6.7
November 30 1648.2 7110 4.3
December 31 1652.7 13679 8.3
------------------------------------------------------------
Overall 365 14928.1 69704 4.7
------------------------------------------------------------
The number of observers with more than 200 observing nights increased to five
(2005: 2). Sirko Molau was once more on top - with 288 nights he could improve
the previously best result by a whopping 26 nights. He is followed by a trio
made of Joerg Strunk, Javor Kac, and Mihaela Triglav with all close to 250
nights. Flavio Castellani could pass the magic line of 200 nights as well.
With Ilkka Yrjola, Bob Lunsford, Stane Slavec, and Stephen Evans we have four
more observers with over a hundred observing nights.
The results are summarized in the following table. Please note, that the first
three observers usually operated more than one camera in parallel (MOLSI: 2-3;
STRJO: 2-4; KACJA: 2), which has an impact on the effective observing time and
number of meteors.
Observer Country # Observing Eff. Observing # Meteors Meteors/Hour
Nights Time [h]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sirko Molau Germany 288 2734.6 20203 7.4
Joerg Strunk Germany 252 1902.4 5772 3.0
Javor Kac Slovenia 245 1912.8 5277 2.8
Mihaela Triglav Slovenia 242 1347.2 4435 3.3
Flavio Castellani Italy 220 1500.6 3925 2.6
Ilkka Yrjola Finland 148 812.9 3668 4.5
Robert Lunsford USA 139 816.7 6877 8.4
Stane Slavec Slovenia 128 536.1 1757 3.3
Stephen Evans UK 101 661.0 2105 3.2
Enrico Stomeo Italy 90 633.6 3262 5.1
Wolfgang Hinz Germany 85 582.4 5251 9.0
Orlando B.-Sanchez Spain 78 365.7 606 1.7
Maurizio Eltri Italy 48 351.3 1618 4.6
Ulrich Sperberg Germany 34 200.9 467 2.3
Detlef Koschny Netherlands 34 199.1 513 2.6
Bernd Brinkmann Germany 23 106.4 397 3.7
Biondani Roberto Italy 22 145.4 763 5.2
Rosta Stork Czech Rep. 17 113.3 2623 23.2
Rob McNaught (Australia) 2 5.7 185 32.5
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By now, all 2006 observations are checked for consistency and added to the
video meteor database. In a few days, a new version of the database with
position data of more than a quarter million meteors will be made available
in PosDat format at www.metrec.org.
I would like to thank all video observers for their commitment in the last
year. I wish all of you, that also year eight of the video meteor network
will become a successful one.
1. Observers
============
Code Name Place Camera FOV LM Nights Time Meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE Brinkmann Herne HERMINE (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 14 28.8 h 188
CASFL Castellani Monte Baldo BMH1 (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 17 167.4 h 852
ELTMA Eltri Venezia MET38 (0.8/3.8) 80 dg 3 mag 3 37.0 h 158
EVAST Evans Moreton RF1 (0.8/12) 25 dg 5 mag 4 44.6 h 207
HINWO Hinz Brannenburg AKM2 (0.85/25) 32 dg 5 mag 20 169.1 h 1929
KACJA Kac Kostanjevec METKA (0.8/8) 42 dg 2 mag 23 118.4 h 464
Kamnik REZIKA (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 9 42.8 h 275
KOSDE Koschny Noordwijkerh. ICC3 (0.85/25) 25 dg 5 mag 3 16.7 h 51
LUNRO Lunsford Chula Vista BOCAM (1.4/50) 60 dg 6 mag 21 171.5 h 1455
MOLSI Molau Seysdorf AVIS2 (1.4/50) 60 dg 6 mag 13 86.9 h 1894
MINCAM1 (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 18 115.8 h 975
Ketzuer REMO1 (0.8/3.8) 80 dg 3 mag 19 65.5 h 308
ROBBI Roberto Verona FIAMENE (0.8/3.8) 80 dg 3 mag 16 110.2 h 650
SLAST Slavec Ljubljana KAYAK1 (1.8/28) 50 dg 4 mag 13 62.2 h 514
SPEUL Sperberg Salzwedel AKM1 (0.85/2) 32 dg 5 mag 8 35.1 h 111
STOEN Stomeo Scorze MIN38 (0.8/3.8) 80 dg 3 mag 11 117.5 h 1109
STORO Stork Ondrejov OND1 (1.4/50) 55 dg 6 mag 3 23.7 h 941
STRJO Strunk Leopoldshoehe MINCAM2 (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 17 41.3 h 166
MINCAM3 (0.8/8) 42 dg 4 mag 1 2.3 h 6
TRIMI Triglav Velenje SRAKA (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 18 117.7 h 1002
YRJIL Yrjola Kuusankoski FINEXCAM (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 15 113.1 h 535
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum 31 1652.7h 13679
2. Observing Times (h)
======================
Dec 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE - - - - - - - 0.4 7.4 2.1 0.5 1.0 3.6 6.2 3.8
CASFL 12.5 - - 7.5 - - - - 3.5 - 5.6 9.5 12.5 12.0 6.4
ELTRI 12.3 - - - - - - - - 12.4 12.3 - - - -
EVAST - - - - - - - 10.2 11.7 - 9.3 - - - -
HINWO 8.6 5.0 3.9 - 7.9 - 1.6 - - 12.0 - 7.5 13.0 13.0 12.9
KACJA - 7.8 2.0 2.3 3.6 1.1 3.6 - 4.4 1.3 9.5 11.1 13.7 13.5 -
- 2.2 - - - - - - - - 2.5 3.3 - - -
KOSDE - - - - - - - - 6.7 - - - - - -
LUNRO 1.6 7.1 4.8 11.9 10.7 11.1 11.8 11.5 5.8 - - 11.7 3.9 4.1 -
MOLSI - - 0.8 - - - - - - 7.6 - - 11.5 13.1 12.9
- - 3.1 - 6.4 - 6.5 0.2 - 7.2 1.1 1.8 13.7 13.8 13.8
1.9 2.9 2.8 0.7 - 6.5 8.4 4.0 1.8 8.1 - 4.6 - 1.6 14.2
ROBBI - - - - - - - - 4.5 9.0 10.5 9.0 10.5 10.5 7.5
SLAST - 1.5 - - - - 0.5 1.0 1.5 - 1.0 0.6 6.9 9.9 -
STOEN 11.9 - - - - - - - - 10.5 11.2 2.6 11.4 10.2 11.2
STORO - - - - - - - - - - - 5.1 6.6 12.0 -
STRJO 4.5 1.0 - - - - 2.8 - 6.9 4.3 - 0.7 1.0 4.4 5.5
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TRIMI - 8.8 - - - - - - 1.0 0.4 10.5 11.3 12.4 11.6 9.2
YRJIL - - - - - - - - - 2.8 - - - - 10.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum 53.3 36.3 17.4 22.4 28.6 18.7 35.2 27.3 55.2 77.7 74.0 79.8120.7135.9107.7
Dec 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE 0.7 0.5 - - - - - - - - 0.4 - - 0.7 0.3 1.2
CASFL - - - - 11.9 11.5 12.5 12.5 7.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 4.5 - - -
ELTRI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EVAST 13.4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HINWO 5.7 - - 5.6 1.7 11.6 12.8 10.6 - - 8.3 13.0 1.4 13.0 - -
KACJA - - - 4.3 1.1 - 5.2 2.7 - 1.3 3.6 9.6 6.5 7.3 2.1 1.0
- - 3.8 1.0 - 10.3 - - - - 12.4 5.7 - - 1.6 -
KOSDE 3.1 6.9 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LUNRO - - - - 9.4 10.2 12.1 9.4 10.0 7.5 - - - 6.3 8.2 2.4
MOLSI 0.5 0.8 2.2 - 1.0 13.1 12.6 - - 4.6 6.2 - - - - -
- 3.0 2.3 - 0.5 13.8 13.8 - - 5.8 4.8 - - - 4.2 -
2.1 0.7 1.2 0.7 1.6 - - - - 1.2 - - - - 0.5 -
ROBBI - - 2.0 3.0 5.0 7.5 9.0 3.7 - 3.5 5.5 9.5 - - - -
SLAST - - - - - - 10.7 6.0 - - 7.3 11.2 4.1 - - -
STOEN - - - - 11.6 - 12.8 11.1 13.0 - - - - - - -
STORO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
STRJO 1.5 0.5 0.5 1.3 - - - - - - 2.5 - - 0.8 1.3 1.8
- - - - - - - - - - 2.3 - - - - -
TRIMI - - - 7.0 0.4 - 11.0 5.4 7.7 0.8 4.8 8.4 5.7 1.3 - -
YRJIL 4.0 3.4 12.2 5.0 - 4.5 10.1 1.3 14.7 6.4 12.0 7.3 14.5 4.6 - -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum 31.0 15.8 24.2 27.9 44.2 82.5122.6 62.7 52.9 43.6 82.6 77.2 36.7 34.0 18.2 6.4
3. Results (Meteors)
====================
Dec 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE - - - - - - - 3 34 12 5 3 32 62 17
CASFL 46 - - 20 - - - - 9 - 50 91 246 105 24
ELTRI 24 - - - - - - - - 56 78 - - - -
EVAST - - - - - - - 40 41 - 78 - - - -
HINWO 63 11 7 - 29 - 7 - - 150 - 259 500 223 107
KACJA - 12 5 4 5 3 10 - 12 2 38 63 154 69 -
- 5 - - - - - - - - 15 45 - - -
KOSDE - - - - - - - - 18 - - - - - -
LUNRO 4 86 27 59 51 77 71 94 30 - - 196 142 183 -
MOLSI - - 1 - - - - - - 126 - - 609 318 237
- - 7 - 39 - 29 1 - 44 4 38 375 203 60
3 6 28 5 - 44 56 12 7 42 - 14 - 5 67
ROBBI - - - - - - - - 8 28 65 54 245 91 23
SLAST - 1 - - - - 1 2 2 - 2 3 204 138 -
STOEN 13 - - - - - - - - 78 114 27 413 171 51
STORO - - - - - - - - - - - 134 290 517 -
STRJO 14 4 - - - - 13 - 26 19 - 2 4 24 21
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
TRIMI - 34 - - - - - - 3 1 87 147 336 172 24
YRJIL - - - - - - - - - 15 - - - - 72
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum 167 159 75 88 124 124 187 152 190 573 536 1076 3550 2281 703
Dec 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BRIBE 5 3 - - - - - - - - 2 - - 4 2 4
CASFL - - - - 41 33 42 34 21 28 24 30 8 - - -
ELTRI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
EVAST 48 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
HINWO 10 - - 57 14 54 99 77 - - 80 101 2 79 - -
KACJA - - - 8 2 - 13 2 - 3 7 17 17 14 3 1
- - 20 1 - 85 - - - - 65 35 - - 4 -
KOSDE 17 16 - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LUNRO - - - - 57 80 62 30 62 51 - - - 40 46 7
MOLSI 2 5 42 - 7 220 221 - - 74 32 - - - - -
- 8 9 - 3 58 56 - - 26 2 - - - 13 -
7 1 2 1 5 - - - - 2 - - - - 1 -
ROBBI - - 4 9 11 22 24 14 - 14 16 22 - - - -
SLAST - - - - - - 68 24 - - 30 23 16 - - -
STOEN - - - - 54 - 89 58 41 - - - - - - -
STORO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
STRJO 6 2 3 5 - - - - - - 8 - - 3 5 7
- - - - - - - - - - 6 - - - - -
TRIMI - - - 29 3 - 45 16 27 4 23 26 21 4 - -
YRJIL 16 11 81 10 - 30 79 2 81 12 38 9 54 25 - -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum 111 46 161 120 197 582 798 257 232 214 333 263 118 169 74 19
Sirko Molau, 2007/01/19