Introduction:

On October 14/15, 2020 I observed meteors for 4,57 hours under good sky conditions. A total of 75 meteors were observed, and 10 meteors were photographed with my DSLR camera. Activity from a number of sources were observed, among them noticeable activity from the minor shower called the October Ursa Majorids. A total of 12 meteors were observed during the night, making them one of the strongest sources of activity in the sky.

 

Observations October 14/15

After a successful previous night of meteor observations, I was eager to check out what another clear night would bring. I started observations from my usual observation site at 22:30 UT. The sky was as dark as it gets here, with a Lm of 6.23, so everything looked promising for a long night with meteor observations. After only 3 minutes a beautiful 1 Mag EGE appeared close to the radiant in Auriga, looking reddish and rather slow moving for an EGE to be. This meteor was photographed with my Nikon D3100 camera with a Samyang 16mm F 2.0 lens, looking green and a lot brighter on the photo than it appeared visually. 2 minutes later a 5 mag DAU followed, shortly before a white 2 mag OCU lit up near Alpha Andromeda. The sporadic activity was on the low side, with 7 meteors observed in the 1.2 hour period. By the end of the period, I had also seen a 4 mag ORI, a 5 mag STA, and another 5 mag EGE and a 5 mag OCU.

22:30 – 23:45 Teff: 1.200, F: 1.00, Lm: 6.23, RA: 45, Dec: +50

Spo: 2(2), 3, 4(2), 5(2) – 7 meteors

STA: 5 – 1 meteor

EGE: 1, 5 – 2 meteors

ORI: 4 – 1 meteor

DAU: 5 – 1 meteor

LMI: 0 meteors

OCU: 2, 5 – 2 meteors

 

5 minutes into the second period, a beautiful, white 0 mag OCU appeared in Taurus. 27 minutes later another white 2 mag meteor met all the criteria for being an OCU. 15 minutes then went by before another 4 mag OCU was seen, followed by a 3 mag OCU 9 minutes later. I was surprised by this activity and was now starting to feel that a real shower was going on in Ursa Major! Other highlights this period was a 0 mag LMI, a 1 mag ORI, and another 1 mag EGE.

23:45 – 01:00 Teff: 1.250, F: 1.00, Lm: 6.23, RA: 60, Dec +50

Spo: 2(3), 3(2), 4(2), 5 – 8 meteors

STA: 6 – 1 meteor

EGE: 1 – 1 meteor

ORI: 1, 3 – 2 meteors

DAU: 6 – 1 meteor

LMI: 0 – 1 meteor

OCU: 0, 2, 3, 4 – 4 meteors

 

The third period started with some weak sporadic meteors and a 5 mag STA. 32 minutes into the period a nice 1 mag OCU lit up between Perseus and Auriga, followed by a 0 mag sporadic one minute later. A very active period then followed. A 2 mag, red STA glided slowly through Perseus, before a yellow, 0 mag EGE shot out from Auriga into Camelopardalis. 11 meteors followed in the next 20 minutes, among them a 2 mag OCU, a 5 mag LMI, a 5 mag EGE and a 3 and 4 mag STA. At 02:09 a 4 mag OCU appeared close to Capella. Almost simultaneously I became aware of a bright -3 mag OCU moving fast from Lynx into Cancer, leaving a smoke train for several seconds! The period was rounded off by a 5 mag ORI. The OCU activity was similar to the previous period, with 4 meteors in 1.117 hours.

Teff: 01:00 – 02:15 Teff: 1.117, F: 1.00, Lm: 6.23, RA: 60, Dec: +50

Spo: 0(2), 2(3), 3(2), 4(2), 5, 6 – 11 meteors

STA: 2, 3, 4, 5 – 4 meteors

EGE: 0, 5 – 2 meteors

ORI: 5 – 1 meteor

DAU: 0 meteors

LMI: 5 – 1 meteor

OCU: -3, 1, 2, 4 – 4 meteors

 

In the final period the ORI took over the show from the OCU, although the latter one still delivered 2 meteors in one hour. The first one being a yellow 1 mag in Taurus, and then a 6 mag in Perseus. 5 Orionids were seen this hour, among them two nice 1 mag meteors. A 1 mag LMI in Auriga, was also among the highlights this hour. Another morning was now approaching rapidly, and I had to prepare for another day at work with very little sleep! That is however a small prize to pay for many memorable moments! I will especially remember the noticeable OCU activity this night, which I think was to high to be explained utterly by chance line-up sporadics. It would be interesting to know if any camera networks can confirm activity from the OCU this night.

02:15 – 03:15 Teff: Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm: 6.18, RA: 75, Dec: +45

Spo: 2(2), 3, 4(4), 5(2) – 9 meteors

STA: 3 – 1 meteor

EGE: 5 – 1 meteor

ORI: 1(2), 2, 3(2) – 5 meteors

DAU: 0 meteors

LMI: 1, 4 – 2 meteors

OCU: 1, 6 – 2 meteors

 

Observed showers:

Southern Taurids (STA)

Epsilon Geminids (EGE)

Orionids (ORI)

Delta Aurigids (DAU)

Leo Minorids (LMI)

October Ursa Majorids (OCU)