GMS@psuvm.BITNET (08/13/85)
Having successfully observed the Perseids this year with a number of
other people, I am curious of the impressions of others throughout the
net.
If people could send me the following info I will collimate it and post
the results:
- place of observation (name and rough long and lat)
- times of observations (UT please)
- estimated of the number of meteors you saw per hour - not counting
sporadics
Feel free to include any other useful observations. One I will volunteer
was mentioned by one of the people in our group, and later seemed to be
confirmed by the observations.
He pointed out that many of the meteors appeared to be in groupings with
2 or more moving in roughly parallel orbits and impacting on our atmosphere
at about the same time. We saw numerous such groupings. We also saw
a 'wobbling' of many of the slower-moving perseids. Did anyone else
notice either of these effects?
On another meteor-relevant topic. Has anyone out there ever thought they
heard a sound while watching a meteor. Normally, of course, there is
no sound. However, about 6 months ago I was observing with my 10-year old
son on Black Moshannon Mountain, about 30 miles from the nearest
big town, in the dead of Winter. We observed a bright (about mag -1)
meteor that left a 20 degree tail. While watching it we BOTH heard
a distinct sound somewhat like static. The problem is that we heard the
sound exactly when we saw the meteor! I have read of a possible phenomenon
like this a few years back but don't know if it was ever explained.
Gerry Santoro (814) 863-4356
Penn State University -- 101 Computer Bldg -- University Park, PA 16802
. . . psuvax1!santoro
. . . psuvax1!psuvm.bitnet!gms