<div>Greetings again meteor folks,</div><div> I managed to get out for yet another productive two hour Orionid watch from my rooftop in St. Augustine this morning. To my pleasant surprise, I found the amazing 2011 Orionids still going strong and only slightly weaker than the previous morning. </div>
<div> All told in the same two hour time frame once again (4:15 - 6:15 a.m. EDT), I had 81 total meteors with 53 of those being Orionids. Still no elusive Orionid fireball has shown up, even with all this brisk activity, but that is not unusual. Orionid fireballs are devilishly hard to come by!</div>
<div> This morning's Orionids were perhaps a tad brighter on the average than the two previous mornings and train percentage was high also, around 40%. I noticed a bit more color in this morning's Orionids also, mainly varying shades of yellow. The brightest Orionids I saw were zero magnitude, nothing in the negative magnitudes.</div>
<div> I had a couple of really pretty Taurids, too. They were all long pathed and a couple were first magnitude and showed an orangey tint to them. I saw only one Leo Minorid this morning but it was a lovely golden first magnitude with a nice train. I am impessed indeed with this minor radaint as well! The epsilon Geminids also were still present, but weakly.</div>
<div> Here is the quick data from this morning:</div><div> </div><div>Oct. 23/24, 2011 Location: 5 miles SW of St. Augustine, Florida</div><div> </div><div>0815 - 0915 UT (0415 - 0515 EDT) L. M. 6.5, F - 1.0 Facing South</div>
<div>21 Orionids</div><div>3 Taurids</div><div>1 epsilon Geminid</div><div>11 sporadics</div><div>36 total meteors</div><div> </div><div>0915 - 1015 UT (0515 - 0615 EDT) L. M. 6.5 F - 1.0 Facing South</div><div>32 Orionids</div>
<div>3 Taurids</div><div>1 Leo Minorid </div><div>9 sporadics</div><div>45 total meteors</div><div> </div><div>This morning's watch will end my 2011 Orionid observing and I must say it has been a joy to behold! A couple of thoughts on this shower: I think some folks may be getting out too early in the evening for them, seeing little to no activity and may be giving up before the good stuff starts! </div>
<div>The Orionids are a very challenging shower to observe, top notch sky conditions are a must. Also, I have noticed over the years that the Orionids do not seem to really get very active until at least 0400 local. Sometimes, it takes even to 0500 local for the shower to kick in. This combined with the fact that most Orionids are faint and short-pathed, it is really to understand why some folks get weak results. They are, in my opinion, the most challenging major shower to observe. Patience is essential for them!</div>
<div>Now my task is to compile all my data and report it to IMO, then back to Meteorobs. </div><div> </div><div>Clear skies all, Paul <br></div>