Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2015 Results

This year we managed to collate the results and publish the results on New Years Day, so Happy New Year, and clear skies to all the meteor detectors out there :)

2015 saw a slight increase over 2014 with a total of 522 detection's, but it did not break the 2013 record of 552 detection's.

No system failures were reported, which has been the case since for several years since the PC was upgraded. False positives peaked around January and December as usual due to electrical interference from the air conditioners.

As at the end of 2015, the system has captured 2,837 meteors in total. There were a few really nice fireballs which resulted in some nice bright flashes...I will post the clips some day :)

Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2014 Results

Better late than never, here are the detection results for 2014 :)

Following is the annual comparison of meteor counts where we can see a slight decrease over previous years. A three week holiday in August where the system was intentionally left off contributed to the shortfall.

No system failures were reported. False positives peaked around January and December due to electrical interference from the air conditioners.

As at the end of 2014, the system has captured 2,315 meteors in total.

Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2013 Results

The high level data summary page has been updated for 2013.

Following is the annual comparison of meteor counts where we can see a slight increase over previous years. Unfortunately there was a slight increase in system failures due to running out of space on the new smaller capacity SSD main drive on several occasions. Data is now archived to a larger data HDD to avoid this problem.

The increase in meteor detection is likely due to slightly clearer skies throughout the year with the probability of bad weather on a given night decreasing from 44.11% to 43.01%, whilst the probability of detecting at least one meteor increasing from 49.68% to 51.71%. Additionally, a new record detection month was achieved in July, with a total of 81 meteors detected (see observatory statistics).

As at the end of 2013, the system has captured 1,842 meteors!

Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2012 Results

The high level data summary page has been updated for 2012.

Following is the annual comparison of meteor counts where we can see a slight increase over previous years. The most likely cause has been a significant decrease in system failures, thanks mainly to the installation of a SSD drive and switching off Windows automatic updates.

As at the end of 2012, the system has captured 1,290 meteors!

Observatory Statistics

There is a new Observatory Statistics page that highlights some interesting statistics on the Meteor Hunter observatory. For instance, the probability of the system detecting at least 1 meteor on a given night is only 46.30% (due mainly to cloudy Melbourne skies). However, once there are clear skies, the average meteors detected per night is 2.4. There are more statistics on the page itself.

Happy Meteor Hunting!

Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2011 Results

The high level data summary page has been updated for 2011. Following is a comparison of 2010 versus 2011 results. In 2011, slightly more meteors were detected with August being the record month with a total of 57 meteors.

Happy Meteor Hunting!

Meteor Detection Data Updated - 2010 Results

The high level data summary page has been updated for the remaining months in 2010, October, November and December. 

December was a record month with 79 Meteors detected! 

This is of course due to the relatively clear skies over Melbourne during the summer months. October was plagued with a cable problem when the polycarbonate roof was replaced and all cable were re-routed through conduit around the house. The main data cable was not plugged in for 8 days!

On the positive side, since the automated Microsoft updates was turned off in Windows 7 the system has not failed to boot once. Lots of experience was gained in 2010 so hopefully 2011 will lead to higher meteor counts and a smoother running remote Meteor Hunter observatory!

Happy New Year from Meteor Hunter!