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RASC Prince George Centre Observatory

RASC Prince George Centre Observatory (aka Prince George Astronomical Society) is located on Tedford Road in Prince George. It is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of astronomy and science in Prince George and the neighbouring Northern Canadian communities.

RASC Prince George Centre employs three methods of meteor detection

 

DETECTION USING AN FM CARRIER FREQUENCY


The RASC Prince George Centre has implemented a meteor detection project using information obtained from the Sky Scan Science Awareness Project and a program called Radio-SkyPipe. Two FM automobile radios tuned to 98.7 MHz, a Yagi antenna, and a Quadrifilar Helicoidal antenna, enable us to collect data and present it here in graph form.

Latest Radio-SkyPipe data

 

DETECTION USING A TV CARRIER FREQUENCY

The RASC Prince George Centre Observatory has associated itself with the International meteor detection organization called Radio Meteor Observatories On Line. Using the programs Spectrum Lab and Colorgramme RMOB lab, along with an ICOM IC-PCR1000 receiver tuned to Channel 3 video carrier frequency 61.240 MHz, we are able to collect data and present it here. Meteor activity on the left is in graph form for a 24 hour period. Data in the right hand box accumulates during the month and is colour based with blue signifying zero activity. Colours approaching red signify increased activity.

 

DETECTION USING AN ALLSKY VIDEO SYSTEM

RASC camera

The following image is the latest real time capture from the AllSky camera installed at the RASC Prince George Centre Observatory. This camera has a 180 degree field of view. North is up, West is to the right.

North Island College

Established in 1975, North Island College is now comprised of four campuses and four centres covering an area that includes northern Vancouver Island and the BC mainland coast from Desolation Sound to Swindle Island. The college offers over 800 courses and programs in health care, trades, business, fine arts, tourism, and university studies.

North Island College has a unique tie to Tatla Lake Elementary/Jr. Secondary School. With the assistance of the Tatlayoko Think Tank and others, an astronomical dome and telescope were installed on the school grounds.

The first observatory to be accessible via the internet in British Columbia, it is used by students of North Island College as part of the Space Science and Astronomy:Introduction to Deep Space Astronomy course.

Shane Observatory

Shane Observatory employs three methods of meteor detection

DETECTION USING AN FM CARRIER FREQUENCY

The Shane Observatory has implemented a meteor detection project using information obtained from the Sky Scan Science Awareness Project and a program called Radio-SkyPipe. Two FM automobile radios tuned to 98.7 MHz, a Yagi antenna, and a Quadrifilar Helicoidal antenna, enable us to collect data and present it here in graph form.

Current Radio-SkyPipe data

Current Radio-SkyPipe data

 

DETECTION USING A TV CARRIER FREQUENCY

The Shane Observatory has associated itself with the International meteor detection organization called Radio Meteor Observatories On Line. Using the programs Spectrum Lab and Colorgramme RMOB lab, along with an ICOM IC-PCR1000 receiver tuned to Channel 3 video carrier frequency 61.240 MHz, we are able to collect data and present it here. Meteor activity on the left is in graph form for a 24 hour period. Data in the right hand box accumulates during the month and is colour based with blue signifying zero activity. Colours approaching red signify increased activity.

 

DETECTION USING AN ALLSKY VIDEO SYSTEM

Shane camera

The following image is the latest real time capture from the AllSky camera installed at the Shane Observatory. This camera has a maximum 180 degree field of view. North is up, West is to the right.

Latest AllSky camera capture

RDL Observatory

Good Day All

This Observatory is somewhat active in visual astronomy however realistically I live in BC. This location has less than 68 days a year that are suitable for visually seeing and looking at stars.

Because of the reduced number of viewing days I first “Migrated to Simple Radio Astronomy Techniques” Namely a automotive FM radio tuned to a non used channel. in my case 98.7mhz.  A simple homemade antenna, and a software program called Radio Sky Pipe which using your PC and Windows generated and recorded a strip chart. Used for a few years perhaps 4 or so reactivated last week.

The next step up was to look at a form of passive radar.  Equipment used here differs from simple to more extensive and sophisticated radios ones, that are stable and will tune to television visual carrier frequencies.  Again using purpose written software “SpecLab”, the sound card of a PC, a simple antenna completes this project.

The above system uses a target TV station that is ~ 1500 km from the receiving site.  In my case the target is on the Saskatchewan/ Manitoba border. As the meteor enters the earths atmosphere at  105 to 95 km a plasma trail is generated which the target signal reflects off of giving me a characteristic ping the software decodes and presents it on a chart that is archived, it also generates a comma delimited file ready for importing in to spread sheets and other software programs. Because of a vary flaky internet connection to European areas I do not upload data to the RMOB site but submit data monthly to it for archival purposes.

Also on the active research list is the operation of two All Sky Cameras.  The first on line in the year 2005. A home built system comprised firstly of a PC164 camera, a Rainbow wide angle lens. and a  capture card. Tried many different software programs none being useful. Until attending a SSSP Star Party where Garry Dymond presented a discussion group with UFO Capture Software.  This was the Key to a successful capture program.  System has been revamped several time with up grades and changes. Latest configuration is Watec 902h u camera, a ADVC 55 digital video Converter. Dell GA280 computer plus the original purchased UFO capture software.

Next on line is a Sandia Sentinel system installed and operational about 4 months ago. It is the Sandia Mark IV configuration using a Sony 1/2″ camera, Rainbow lens, internal capture card, purpose written software and a Dell GA270 computer.  This system is coming along well.

Currently there is a 3.5 meter dish with a 9 element yagi antenna as a pick up point feeding a Icom PCR1000 radio on channel 67 with Radio Sky Pipe software ( in power ) detection mode attempting to detect Cassiopeia.  Also using Radio Eyes  Authored by Jim Sky  who is the author of Radio Sky Pipe software mentioned earlier. Results have been terrible so far.

73 wayne ve7duc

 

 

 

 

Fireball of Thursday 16 Mar 2017 at 9:39pm Pacific Time

A Meteor fireball fell over Central Washington State, and broke up over the Colville Reservation north of Yakima. The bright fireball was seen by many people from Vancouver Island , Vancouver, Seattle, and as far East as Spokane, Washington.  The American Meteor Society received 116 reports of “a fireball” over Washington, B.C., Idaho and Oregon.

Vancouver time that was  Thursday March 16, 2017 at 9:39pm.  People described a green tail turning briefly yellow, followed by a quick double flash at it broke up.  

 Kathy M. wrote on the  AMS site: “It was so amazing and beautiful. I’ve seen small, white falling stars before but never anything like this….large bright green with a huge white tail. Very cool.”  http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2017/1012

 Colour VIDEO:  Tammy Kwan, a Vancouver weekly newspaper Georgia Straight reporter, posted her dashcam video to YouTube she was driving on Lougheed Highway in Pitt Meadows.  See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfcg_GiZhqA

Many of The Meteor Network All sky cameras across BC and Washington picked it up at 17 Mar 2017 at 04:39 UTC :

Bellview Wash (just a flash through clouds) at 04:39 UTC

 Victoria BC  at 04:39

Cranbrook Allsky Photo
Cranbrook Allsky

Cranbrook BC at 04:39; 

West Kelowna Allsky Photo
Kelowna Allsky
West Kelowna BC at 04:39.

Prince George BC at 04:53.  (Their clock may be out).

The Anarchist Mtn, and Richland, Wash sites weren’t online.  The Courtney BC site didn’t see it.

TRIANGULATION: On these Allsky photos, North is at the top, and East is on the left.  Knowing the location of the photos, and from their directions, we can triangulate where the meteor was.  If you get your ruler out and draw intersecting lines on a map, it appears South of Kelowna BC, in Central Washington, over the Colville Reservation.  In this case, it’s unlikely it hit the ground.

A second smaller meteor was seen to the North on 03/17/2017 at 04:53 UT, 14 minutes afterward.

 

 

Rocket Burns Up Over BC-Alberta Border Feb 24

Bright Slow-moving Disintegrating Object:

23 Feb 2015 at 10:56pm MST/9:56 PST

Shown above is an animated GIF of the rocket stage disintegrating as it passed over the Cranbrook, BC meteor-cam site. The Kelowna BC meteor-cam site caught a glimpse of it as well. The video frames displayed are 2 seconds apart over a 33 second period. It took a total of 83 seconds to pass overhead, coming in low like a comet over the Southeastern horizon, and leaving in four trailing chunks over the Northeastern horizon.

It was a highly visible fireball, with a long glowing tail with dozens of pieces sparkling and falling off. Many people in Cranbrook reported seeing it, phoning the radio station and enquiring at the airport. At first some wondered if it was a burning jet aircraft.

Neil Zeller in Calgary caught some good photos of it there. Check out this link here: Global News Article 24Feb2015

Rick Nowell

Bulletin

Reply-To: Ted Molczan
Re-entry of 2014-088B seen from U.S.A. and Canada

I awoke to a message from Joseph Remis with news that the re-entry of 2014-088B / 40363 had been seen from the western U.S. and Canada. It was stage 3 of the CZ-4B rocket that launched Yaogan Weixing 26 on 2014 Dec 27 UTC.

USSTRATCOM’s apparently final TIP message, issued at 11:15 UTC, reports the decay at 5:54 UTC +/- 7 min, near 42.3 N, 111.6 W. That corresponds to descent to 10 km, the approximate toe of the debris footprint (should any have survived to impact Earth). Based on the sightings, the final descent was farther north, well into Canada, but within the stated time uncertainty.

As I write, more than 140 observations have been reported to the AMS site: http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2015/451

The object was north-bound, descending from a 97.3 deg orbit. There are confirmed sightings from Arizona, Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Montana, British Columbia, Alberta. The most southerly observation I have noted so far was from Scottsdale, Arizona; the most northerly from Didsbury, Alberta. That spans nearly 3000 km of the descent.

Map of Rocket Path_cropped
Map of Rocket Re-entry Path

I have plotted a large sample of the AMS sighting locations, along with the ground track of 14088B:

The underlying Google Earth kmz file is here: http://satobs.org/seesat_ref/misc/2014-088B_re-entry.kmz

Joseph provided a link to a video here: KSL 5 News in Utah

Report from Ted Molczan