Meteors

Meteor observing has sometimes been called 'Clayton's Observing', that is, the observing for when you are not observing!

Despite this rather unflattering description, meteor observing is great fun and is a good way for amateur astronomers with no fancy equipment, to make a useful contribution to scientific research. Apart from this, who has not been on an observing night and heard the cries of delight when a bright meteor flashes overhead?

I first started meteor observing in 1968, and my first country trip for observing was for the geminids in 1969. Since that time I have spent countless hours watching for meteors, concentrating primarily on the Geminid and eta Aquarid showers, and recording over 50,000 meteors. Unfortunately, the photography of meteors has not been anywhere near as successful!! It is amazing just how well meteors know which part of the sky the cameras are aimed at. Sometimes I have had 5 cameras aimed at the sky during a major shower, and yet the meteors still manage to pass between the fields of view!!!!! :-(