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Methods for observing meteors
Methods for observing meteors can be divided into following categories:
Visual meteor observation
Counting
Counting is for sure the simplest method for observing meteors. For practicing this method all you need is a warm sleeping bag and a piece of paper for writting down seen meteors. Every observer chooses a sky field which he is going to observe. In his piece of sky he counts the stars to see what his limiting magnitude is; after doing so he can begin his observation. When observer sees a meteor he writes down the exact time of its appearance along with its magnitude and belonging to a certain shower. This method is used during the time of high activity, but it is very useful as a secondary while doing photographic, video or VLF observations.
Plotting
Plotting is especially well suited to the minor showers of the year where only a handful of meteors are observed each hour. In short, plotting consists of taking the path of an observed meteor and transfering it from sky to a map or star chart. While you are staring at the sky (after the meteor passes) to get a good fix on its location.
Once confident of the meteor position, draw an arrow to match it onto one of the charts you have previously selected for the night. Plotting is in general recommended only to more experienced observers.
Telescopic meteor observation
Observing meteors with telescopes or binoculars is one of the most valuable fields of study that the amateur astronomer can work in. It involves observation of meteor events well below the limit of either photography or naked eye observation. The restricted field of view of even wide angle telescopes and binoculars means that these observations are much more accurate than results from naked eye work. Meteor rates are rather modest but do improve with experience.
Photographic meteor observation
Photographing meteors involves a great deal of luck for the most part. In turn, the results have the potential for producing the most accurate data. Photographing meteors can provide accurate radiant determinations, meteor durations, velocities and approximate magnitudes. In order to increase your chances of capturing a meteor on film you should use camera with a 28mm to 50mm lens, appropriately fast film and as you might guess a lot of patience.
We know that when a meteors enters the atmosphere, they produce an ionized column of gas molecules. This ionized gas has the ability to reflect radio signals between a transmitter and a distant receiver. The frequency range in which this occurs is between 40 and 150 MHz. The technique used to register forward scatter meteors is actually quite simple. A receiver is turned to a distant radio station that is located below the observers horizon, most often a commercial radio station. Since the technique uses electromagnetic waves, it can be used during the daytime, when a Moon is full or during cloudy and rainy weather.
VLF is part of the electromagnetic spectrum between 0.3 and 30 kHz. Some theories connect VLF with the electrophonic sounds of bright fireballs (which occur in the same time with fireball). Our goal is to confirm that theory or prove otherwise. Our receiver receive VLF in range from 1 to 11 kHz.
Video cameras are introduced in meteor observations just a few years ago, but they are more and more important nowadays. Naturaly, the most important part of the equipment is video camera which must be intensified or (in the case of camera for fireballs) sensitive video camera. It is inevitable part of any automatic meteor station. In the future, maybe the visual observers will extinct only to be replaced by video systems.
