Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - November 2009
=======================================================

The observing conditions deteriorated significantly in November after the 
weather had been highly cooperative for three months in a row. In particular 
south European observing sites, which where privileged so far, enjoyed only 
a few clear nights, whereas the weather was still acceptable at the more 
northern locations. Beside the two American observers who enjoyed perfect 
conditions again, there were only three cameras with twenty or more observing 
nights. In particular the first part of the month was poor. Weather improved 
in the second decade just in time for the Leonids, but towards the end the 
situation became worse again. Thanks to the large number of cameras, we still 
collected over 2,200 hours of effective observing time and 10,000 meteors.

The Leonids were once more the highlight of November. The predictions from 
different researchers promised ZHRs beyond 150 in the night of November 17/18. 
The peak was confirmed by the preliminary IMO analysis of visual observations. 
A ZHR of almost 100 was reached at 20 UT on November 17 - too early for the 
European video observers. The rate dropped to 40 until midnight with two
minor peaks at 23 and 01 UT.

Figure 1 gives the complete Leonid activity profile from our November video
data. For each night, the number of Leonids was divided by the number of
sporadic meteors and averaged over all cameras. First Leonid activity
occurred on November 10. As expected, peak activity was detected in the
night of November 17/18 - the only night when more Leonids were recorded
than Sporadics. Thereafter, the activity declined rapidly and around November
22 the shower was essentially gone.


Figure 1: Activity profile of the Leonids in November 2009.

Figure 2 shows the detailed profile from the morning of November 18. Here, a
subset of 17 cameras was selected, that enjoyed clear skies for a longer
period of time. The number of Leonids was counted in half hour intervals and
corrected by the radiant altitude. Unfortunately, only the time interval
00:30-05:00 UT could be reasonably covered, i.e. after the peak. During that
time, the Leonid activity drops slowly. For comparison, the preliminary
visual profile is overlayed, which shows the same trend.
That's about all we can read out of the video data.


Figure 2: Detailed activity profile from the morning of November 18, 2009.
The preliminary visual ZHR profile of IMO is shows as a line.

Finally, I would like to discuss an interesting phenomenon. When reading our
recent meteor shower analysis, the Japanese video observer SonotaCo stumbled
over two strange points in the radiant plot. The figure that shows the
difference between the ecliptical longitude of the radiant and the solar
longitude against the ecliptical latitude (figure 3), has a concentration
of Apex radiants at about 270 degrees. For geometric reasons they are of
high velocity, which is why they are mainly plotted in purple. However,
there are also two single yellow dots (figure 4), i.e. two relatively strong
radiants with a significantly lower velocity.


Figure 3: Radiant plot from the comprehensive IMO meteor shower analysis in
summer 2009. The x-axis represents the difference between the ecliptical
radiant longitude and the solar longitude, the y-axis the ecliptical latitude
of the radiant. The radiant velocity is coded by color and the strength by
intensity.


Figure 4: Magnification from figure 3 with two unusual radiants in the Apex
region.

A detailed analysis revealed that these two radiants occurred at solar
longitude 236 and 237 with a position of alpha=161 deg, delta=16..17 deg and a
velocity of 52 km/s. The radiant was the third strongest source in both
intervals (1,200 meteors in total) comparable to the northern and southern
Taurids. The temporal proximity and the position only a few degrees away from
the Leonid radiant suggested these to be artefacts from the Leonids. But how
should they arise?
My first suspicion was, that one camera was incorrectly calibrated during the
Leonid storms. Spot checks revealed, however, that the meteors belonging to
these radiants were recorded in different years by different cameras.
Remarkably many of them came from image-intensified cameras (no wonder given
that these provided the majority of data from the Leonid storms) and occurred
near the edges of fov. Larger position and velocity errors are expected there,
because the image distortion of intensifiers is much stronger at the edges.
But why should these meteors form a distinct pseudo radiant instead of random 
scatter around the Leonid radiant? A few meteors occurred in line with the 
original and the "pseudo" Leonid radiant, but there were also high quality 
meteors (near the center of fov, many frames, good astrometry) showing a clear 
velocity deviation (about 10% relative) compared to the Leonids.

Thus, given the current state of affairs, these two spots are most likely a 
Leonid artefact, but we have no explanation for their origin.


1. Observers
============

Code    Name        Place           Camera         FOV    LM Nights Time Meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR Benitez-S.  Las Palmas    TIMES4 (1.4/50)   20 dg  3 mag 12   33.5 h   116
                                TIMES5 (0.95/50)  10 dg  3 mag 19   37.2 h    96
BRIBE Brinkmann   Herne         HERMINE (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag 19   53.4 h   327
CASFL Castellani  Monte Baldo   BMH1 (0.8/6)      55 dg  3 mag 16   94.8 h   296
                                BMH2 (0.8/6)      55 dg  3 mag 15  100.7 h   392
CRIST Crivello    Valbrevenna   C3P8 (0.8/3.8)    80 dg  3 mag 14  102.8 h   537
                                STG38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag 12   18.5 h    34
ELTMA Eltri       Venezia       MET38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  5   23.9 h    83
GONRU Goncalves   Tomar         TEMPLAR1 (0.8/6)  55 dg  3 mag  9   31.3 h   141
                                TEMPLAR2 (0.8/6)  55 dg  3 mag 15   50.8 h   199
GOVMI Govedic     Sredisce      ORION2 (0.8/8)    42 dg  4 mag 14   85.0 h   457
HERCA Hergenroth. Tucson        SALSA (1.2/4)     80 dg  3 mag 26  127.7 h   439
                                SALSA2 (1.2/4)    80 dg  3 mag 25  155.1 h   643
HINWO Hinz        Brannenburg   AKM2 (0.85/25)    32 dg  6 mag 13   73.0 h   348
IGAAN Igaz        Budapest      HUBAJ (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag 12   47.3     294
JOBKL Jobse       Oostkapelle   BETSY2 (1.2/85)   25 dg  7 mag 10   65.8 h   616
KACJA Kac         Kostanjevec   METKA (0.8/8)     42 dg  4 mag 10   67.9 h   231
                  Ljubljana     ORION1 (0.8/8)    42 dg  4 mag 13   43.0 h   105
                  Kamnik        STEFKA (0.8/6)    55 dg  3 mag  5   13.2 h    38
KOSDE Koschny     Noordwijkerh. TEC1 (1.4/12)     30 dg  4 mag  8   30.6 h    81
                                TRON1 (1.4/12.5)  30 dg  3 mag  3    6.2      13
LUNRO Lunsford    Chula Vista   BOCAM (1.4/50)    60 dg  6 mag 23  166.9 h  1019
MOLSI Molau       Seysdorf      AVIS2 (1.4/50)    60 dg  6 mag 11   68.0 h   793
                                MINCAM1 (0.8/8)   42 dg  4 mag 22  134.3 h   655
                  Ketzuer       REMO1 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag 20   70.8 h   325
                                REMO2 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag 16   66.2 h   296
OCHPA Ochner      Albiano       ALBIANO (1.2/4.5) 68 dg  3 mag 16   89.1 h   363
SCHHA Schremmer   Niederkr.     DORAEMON (0.8/3.8)80 dg  3 mag 22   68.8 h   272
SLAST Slavec      Ljubljana     KAYAK1 (1.8/28)   50 dg  4 mag 10   63.2 h   292
STOEN Stomeo      Scorze        MIN38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  8   43.4 h   229
                                NOA38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  9   30.6 h   112
                                SCO38 (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  8   40.3 h   227
STORO Stork       Ondrejov      OND1 (1.4/50)     55 dg  6 mag  1    3.2      34
STRJO Strunk      Herford       MINCAM2 (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag 13   27.5 h   107
                                MINCAM3 (0.8/8)   42 dg  4 mag  4    7.2 h    21
                                MINCAM5 (0.8/6)   55 dg  3 mag  8   26.0 h   144
TEPIS Tepliczky   Budapest      HUMOB (0.8/3.8)   80 dg  3 mag  6   23.9 h    93
YRJIL Yrjola      Kuusankoski   FINEXCAM (0.8/6)  55 dg  3 mag  5   20.7 h    78
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall                                                        30 2211.8 h 10546


2. Observing Times (h)
======================

Nov    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.3
        -    -    -   2.5  1.7  1.0  4.4  2.5  2.0   -    -   2.7  1.5  1.7  2.5
BRIBE   -   4.3   -   0.6   -    -    -    -    -    -   5.6  0.5  5.4  3.4  2.2
CASFL  7.0   -    -   9.6   -  10.1   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
       5.3   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   9.4  9.8  3.3   -   1.6   -
CRIST   -   7.8  5.2 12.1   -  12.0   -    -   8.3 10.3  5.8   -    -    -    -
        -   0.5  3.1  2.4   -   0.4   -    -    -    -   1.0  1.1   -   0.8   -
ELTMA  4.7   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   6.1  9.9  2.1   -    -    -
GONRU   -    -   0.8  0.8   -    -    -    -    -   2.6   -    -    -    -    -
        -   4.2  0.6  2.8  1.2  2.6   -    -    -   2.9   -    -    -    -    -
GOVMI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.7  3.8
HERCA  6.8  4.0  2.7  7.0   -   5.5   -   3.8  6.3  4.5  4.3  2.0   -   0.7  5.2
       7.0  4.7  4.0  6.9  1.4  5.4   -   9.0  8.1  6.1  4.1  3.8   -    -   6.1
HINWO  3.2   -    -   2.5  1.3  1.4  1.7   -    -    -   6.5   -  11.0   -    -
IGAAN   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.7  1.4  1.3
JOBKL   -    -    -    -    -    -  11.4  4.0   -   1.7   -    -   1.6  5.0  5.6
KACJA   -    -    -    -    -    -   4.6   -    -    -    -   2.5  7.9   -    -
       2.3   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.3   -   3.5  2.2  1.9   -    -
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
KOSDE   -   4.2   -    -    -    -   6.8   -    -    -   2.5   -    -    -   3.6
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.6
LUNRO  6.7  8.0  6.5  7.2  0.7   -    -    -   7.8  2.0  3.9  2.8   -    -   9.5
MOLSI   -    -    -   3.1  8.6   -    -    -   0.8   -   3.9   -  11.7   -    -
        -    -   2.0  5.5 12.5   -    -    -   0.6   -   5.3  4.3 12.9  5.9   -
        -    -    -    -   1.9  3.5  3.2   -    -   2.7   -   1.1  5.6  7.7  4.0
        -    -    -    -   4.5  0.9  1.3   -    -    -    -    -   2.0  2.5   -
OCHPA  2.1   -   3.0  6.7   -   4.7   -    -    -   8.1 10.1  5.8  0.1  2.8   -
SCHHA  0.2  4.4  1.2  1.0  2.0   -   1.7   -    -    -   5.6   -   0.3  3.0  0.5
SLAST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   7.0  4.4  1.5   -    -
STOEN  7.2   -   1.1   -   2.4   -    -    -    -  12.3 12.5  3.8   -    -    -
       4.0   -   1.1   -   1.2   -    -    -    -   8.1 11.8  2.0   -    -    -
       5.5   -   1.0   -   1.8   -    -    -    -   9.2 12.6  4.1   -    -    -
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO   -    -   0.5   -    -   1.2   -    -    -    -    -   1.0  3.5  3.3  1.6
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   0.2  1.1   - 
        -    -   0.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   1.7  5.4  1.0
TEPIS   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.0
YRJIL  3.4  4.5 11.0   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   1.3   -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   65.4 46.6 44.3 70.7 41.2 48.7 35.1 19.3 37.2 86.0125.7 49.5 73.8 50.0 55.8

Nov    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR  1.0  6.1  3.7  2.5  3.6  3.4  1.7  2.3  1.2  2.3   -    -   3.4   -    - 
        -   1.0   -   1.8  2.2  0.3  2.0  1.7  1.0  2.0   -    -   2.7   -    -
BRIBE  0.4  8.0  3.4 11.1  0.3   -   1.1  0.4   -   2.5  2.3  0.4  0.3   -   1.2
CASFL  1.9  9.5 10.4  7.4 11.4  9.5  0.5  7.0  6.3  1.8  0.6  1.1  0.7   -    - 
        -   5.6 10.9 10.4 10.9 12.0   -   9.3  6.8  4.0  0.5  0.9   -    -    -
CRIST   -    -  12.1 10.1 10.4  1.0   -   4.7  1.0   -    -    -    -    -   2.0
       2.1  2.0  2.2  0.4  2.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
ELTMA   -   1.1   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
GONRU   -   9.1   -   1.6   -    -    -   8.8  6.1   -   0.4  1.1   -    -    - 
        -   8.1  5.0  0.6   -    -   5.0  7.8  2.7   -   2.0   -    -   2.8  2.5
GOVMI 10.9 10.8 11.2  8.8  7.1   -    -   3.6  5.3  8.1  7.6  1.5  0.8  1.8   -
HERCA  6.2  7.4  7.0  8.4  7.2  6.7  7.3  5.3  4.5  5.5  5.5  2.4  1.0  0.5   - 
       8.5  7.9  7.0  6.6  8.2  6.2  7.9  7.7  6.5  5.8  8.3  6.6  1.3   -    -
HINWO  0.6   -  12.4 12.5  7.9 11.1   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   0.9   -
IGAAN  3.8  5.3  6.5  4.5   -    -    -   2.2  2.1 10.0   -    -   4.5  2.0   -
JOBKL   -  11.5   -  12.5   -    -    -   8.6  3.9   -    -    -    -    -    -
KACJA  8.5 10.7  7.7   -   8.8  5.1   -    -    -   7.3   -    -   4.8   -    - 
       1.5  3.6  5.0  1.4  8.9  3.7   -    -   4.8   -    -    -    -   0.9   - 
        -   7.0   -   2.0   -   2.8   -    -   1.2  0.2   -    -    -    -    -
KOSDE   -   1.8  1.1  9.2   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   1.4   - 
        -   1.3   -   1.3   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO 10.2  7.5  7.5  7.4  8.2  9.6  4.2  9.9 10.6  8.7 10.0  8.9   -    -   9.1
MOLSI   -    -  10.8 11.2  8.7  3.9   -    -    -   1.8  3.5   -    -    -    - 
       4.0  5.5 13.1 13.1  7.2  8.6  3.7  2.7  5.2  2.4  1.5  4.3 10.9  3.1   - 
       1.7  5.7  0.3  8.4  1.9  3.4  5.3  0.6   -   2.7  4.4  2.7   -   4.0   - 
        -   5.0  1.2  8.6  3.1  1.6 13.5  2.0   -   5.4  9.7  4.1   -   0.8   -
OCHPA   -   8.0  7.6  9.7  8.6   -    -    -   4.8   -    -   1.1  5.9   -    -
SCHHA  0.3 11.3  4.5  7.7   -    -   1.4  5.1  2.4  8.2  1.8  1.4  0.6   -   4.2
SLAST   -   7.6  8.8  4.8 12.2  8.4   -   4.8  3.7   -    -    -    -    -    -
STOEN   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   3.5  0.6   -    -    -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -   1.1   -    -    -   1.0  0.3   -    -    -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -   1.1   -    -    -   5.0   -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STORO   -   3.2   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO  0.9  1.5   -   6.9   -    -   3.2  1.0   -   0.7  2.2   -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -   5.4   -    -   0.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    - 
       2.0  2.7   -  12.0   -    -   0.7   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
TEPIS   -   4.9  2.9  7.2  3.2   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   2.7   -    -
YRJIL   -    -    -    -    -   0.5   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   64.5180.7162.3217.7142.5 97.8 58.0105.0 81.0 79.4 60.3 36.5 39.6 18.2 19.0


3. Results (Meteors)
====================

Nov    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    5 
        -    -    -    8    7    2   10    5    7    -    -    5    2    3    5
BRIBE   -   25    -    2    -    -    -    -    -    -   39    3   18   20    6
CASFL  14    -    -   25    -   29    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    - 
       14    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   49   38   10    -    8    -
CRIST   -   69   11   66    -   75    -    -   41   67   34    -    -    -    - 
        -    1    3    4    -    1    -    -    -    -    2    2    -    2    -
ELTMA  14    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   22   42    4    -    -    -
GONRU   -    -    1    1    -    -    -    -    -    8    -    -    -    -    - 
        -   11    2   12    3   12    -    -    -    7    -    -    -    -    -
GOVMI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   25    9
HERCA  20    8    8   24    -   15    -   13   19   15   13    6    -    3   19 
       26   11   13   27    2   15    -   32   32   15   19    9    -    -   20
HINWO   9    -    -    3    2    7    2    -    -    -   48    -   50    -    -
IGAAN   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   21    4    4
JOBKL   -    -    -    -    -    -  134   32    -   13    -    -   10   47   29
KACJA   -    -    -    -    -    -   15    -    -    -    -    3   28    -    - 
        6    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   10    -    5    5    3    -    - 
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
KOSDE   -   14    -    -    -    -   20    -    -    -    6    -    -    -    9 
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    6
LUNRO  60   52   27   37    3    -    -    -   34   21   12   10    -    -   43
MOLSI   -    -    -   22   69    -    -    -    9    -   17    -  145    -    - 
        -    -    5   25   76    -    -    -    2    -   11   10   48   35    - 
        -    -    -    -    3   11    7    -    -    7    -    2   20   29   24 
        -    -    -    -   16    2    3    -    -    -    -    -    9   17    -
OCHPA   4    -    8   24    -   15    -    -    -   38   47   25    2   10    -
SCHHA   1   13    5    2    7    -    4    -    -    -   22    -    2   11    2
SLAST   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   18   10    6    -    -
STOEN  16    -    4    -    3    -    -    -    -   75  103   16    -    -    - 
        6    -    2    -    2    -    -    -    -   40   49    6    -    -    - 
       17    -    1    -    5    -    -    -    -   75   97   17    -    -    -
STORO   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO   -    -    1    -    -    4    -    -    -    -    -    3    7   19    6 
        -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    1    4    - 
        -    -    1    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   13   37   12
TEPIS   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    9
YRJIL   9   18   42    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    7    -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   216  222  134  282  198  188  195   82  154  452  622  146  392  274  208

Nov    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BENOR   1   29   10    5   12   13    5    8    6   13    -    -    9    -    - 
        -    2    -    7    5    1    5    4    4    5    -    -    9    -    -
BRIBE   2   82   33   49    1    -   14    2    -   14   11    2    1    -    3
CASFL   2   43   40   19   37   33    1   19   24    5    1    2    2    -    - 
        -   30   54   27   47   48    -   30   27    7    1    2    -    -    -
CRIST   -    -   62   32   61    2    -   13    1    -    -    -    -    -    3 
        6    3    4    1    5    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
ELTMA   -    1    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
GONRU   -   61    -    3    -    -    -   35   29    -    1    2    -    -    - 
        -   56   27    2    -    -   12   27   10    -    8    -    -    3    7
GOVMI  98   84   50   49   30    -    -   15   27   45   14    2    2    7    -
HERCA  30   42   35   34   22   19   16   22   12   16   15    9    2    2    - 
       41   58   46   35   30   28   31   32   35   28   35   20    3    -    -
HINWO   6    -   62   57   41   55    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    6    -
IGAAN  17   95   50    9    -    -    -    4    7   38    -    -   20   25    -
JOBKL   -   97    -  132    -    -    -   83   39    -    -    -    -    -    -
KACJA  34   41   36    -   28   16    -    -    -   21    -    -    9    -    - 
        1   16   12    5   29    4    -    -    8    -    -    -    -    1    - 
        -   26    -    3    -    4    -    -    4    1    -    -    -    -    -
KOSDE   -    4    4   20    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    4    - 
        -    3    -    4    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
LUNRO  72   78   62   37   66   31   11   51   66   64   70   53    -    -   59
MOLSI   -    -  168  167   85   53    -    -    -   15   43    -    -    -    - 
       23   58   91   71   21   54   16   11   22    5    5   15   31   20    - 
        6   91    1   50    3    5   16    3    -   13   13    9    -   12    - 
        -   26    4   56    8    7   45   10    -   32   32   22    -    7    -
OCHPA   -   41   40   38   39    -    -    -   18    -    -    2   12    -    -
SCHHA   1   65   31   26    -    -    6   19    7   24    4    6    1    -   13
SLAST   -   39   35   11  111   28    -    7   27    -    -    -    -    -    -
STOEN   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   11    1    -    -    -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -    1    -    -    -    5    1    -    -    -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -    1    -    -    -   14    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STORO   -   34    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
STRJO   2    8    -   31    -    -    9    5    -    3    9    -    -    -    - 
        -    -    -   15    -    -    1    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    - 
        7   16    -   56    -    -    2    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
TEPIS   -   31    7   26   11    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    9    -    -
YRJIL   -    -    -    -    -    2    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum   349 1260  964 1079  692  403  190  430  375  349  262  146  110   87   85

Sirko Molau, 2010/01/13