[meteorite-list] "Meteor Counter" for Lyrids

From: SMTP <abelcompany_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Apr 2012 11:48:45 -0700
Message-ID: <5DF5D913-C01C-4620-A0EF-AC140F0B2A7C_at_cox.net>

I'm planning to go north out of Phoenix to observe and photograph the Lyrid Meteor Shower next Saturday night. Our clear skies and dark, open wilderness are spectacular for watching the show...

I plan to use my newly downloaded "Meteor Counter" app to count and rate the Lyrids, which should display a modest 20 meteors an hour...but ya never know!!

One can rate brightness while counting, as the screen shows a "piano keyboard" approach to magnitudes to be quickly tallied...you can audio record verbal comments like "Wow"! Sky conditions are first entered, your level of skill, what are the dimmest stars you can see...but also of value to me is a meteor "News" section and an event calendar.

So critical data is captured for each meteor - time, magnitude, your long/lat and optional verbal annotations...then it purports to send the information to "NASA researchers for analysis"...

Of course, in the dark I find it harder to find my apps with both hands.

Cheers!

Jonathan
Received on Sat 14 Apr 2012 02:48:45 PM PDT