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!

End of Astrovid

My Astrovid Fireball Camera has performed admirably over 2010 and is still going strong! Unfortunately it is a collector's item of sorts as the company that made the Fireball camera, Astrovid (Adirondack Video Astronomy or AVA) disappeared during 2010. 

I was curious what happened to Astrovid, and more so the Fireball camera product range, so I did some investigation and emailing over the last few months. The following is what I discovered.

April 21st 2010 

This was close to the last date that the AVA web site was operational with the familiar Astrovid home page.

25th May 2010 

Around this date the Astrovid web site was removed, only to be replaced by an 'under construction' message... 

15th November 2010 

From this date onwards, and perhaps earlier, the Astrovid web site is completely dead.

30th November 2010

After some Googling around, I found a hint on a local Australian company called Telescope and Astronomy that were still selling Astovid StellaCams. The web site had the following banner that pointed to a new company called CosmoLogic Systems that appear to have taken over the StellaCam range.

On checking the CosmoLogic Systems web site, it too was under construction however, it does at least have a notice explaining the demise of Astrovid "Due to the difficult economic situation, AVA has ceased its operation, but the Astrovid product line will still continue through CosmoLogic Systems.". 

Perhaps the Fireball camera lives on? I decided to email CosmoLogic Systems and got a prompt reply:

"Yes, we are taking over some of the Astrovid line - specifically the StellaCam3, the Wat-902H Ultimate and all related accessories including the wireless controller.  We do not plan on offering the Fireball Cam, as there was very little demand for them - I think only a couple of them were sold over the period of a year.  Anyone interested in a Fireball Cam type arrangement could simply house a Wat-902H (or StellaCam3) camera inside a security camera housing.

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Best regards,

CosmoLogic Systems"

So it is official. There will be no more Fireball camera's :( 

The last point in CosmoLogic Systems reply is valid of course and you could certainly build your own, and in fact most amateur Meteor Hunters do, however it does take extra resources and effort as a pose to simply purchasing a working system of the shelf. Once I am ready to add more camera's it looks as though I will have to do exactly that, build a system out of parts, unless another astronomy supply company is willing to step into the small and esoteric market of amateur Meteor Hunters :)

My Fireball Camera lives on!

As a farewell to Astrovid in 2010, here a few interesting pics of my Fireball cam in different Melbourne weather conditions. From cold rainy winter days to scorching summer days like today where the temperature is 38 degrees Celsius!

The Fireball cam gets a new resident. Apparently trying to clean the cobwebs away just results in them coming back a few days later. As long as the spider stays away from the front of the camera there should be  no real problem.

The Fireball camera (and the resident spider) is constantly exposed to heavy rain in the winter months in Melbourne.

A pot of gold at the end of the rainbow?

Another hot summer day. In this picture you can see the Moon behind the camera, although the camera itself has been set up never to image the moon by pointing it at the south celestial pole.