Quadrantids 2021

Forums Meteors Quadrantids 2021

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  • #574857
    Bill Ward
    Participant

    Hi All,

    For the first time in years the weather at my location was clear for the peak (or near the peak…).

    With the predicted peak to be around mid day on the 3rd we were going to miss the main event however from around 0400UT the rates started to climb. This was also seen on my radio system. From around this time right up to twilight the activity just got better and better. Plenty of bright meteors caught on the video cameras.

    I managed to get several good spectra and re-assuringly they exhibited the same characteristics I noted during the last appearance I caught.

    The main characteristic is very strong Mg emission in the green (the BIG spike at 517nm) and near UV.

    It would have been SOOOO good to have caught the peak. My radio observations indicated a peak rate that was higher than the 2020 Geminids for a couple of hours…

    Oh well, maybe next time!

    Cheers,

    Bill.

    #583671
    Philip Jennings
    Participant

    Wonderful to see your results, Bill! I’m surprised by just how prominent that magnesium emission line is.

    Alas, the Quadrantids were thoroughly clouded out, rained out and snowed out at my location.

    Philip

    #583729
    Bill Ward
    Participant

    Hi,

    Thanks Philip, It’s taken 6 years to get a weather break for the QUA’s here too! The HD video cams have produced some exceptional results this year! I’m slowly becoming intimately aware of all little bumps and wrinkles of each shower. The Quadrantids really do have a strong Mg signature, even in the near UV the broad feature is an unresovled Mg triplet.

    Whilst reviewing my Narrow Field of View Experiment I noted that most of the QUA’s seemed to have a very uniform light profile, both radially and axially. I’ve put a video on YouTube showing this. https://youtu.be/c8HP1V-5Eik

    Cheers,

    Bill.

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