More continuing 2023 Orionid observations

Wow! I (Paul Jones) just got in from an amazing one hour meteor watch for the 2023 Orionids (10/23/23)! I awoke at 3 am, looked out and saw some stars, so I figured I would give it a shot at my now trusty roadside site along CR 204 in southern St. Johns County.

I got there about 4 am and the sky was about 75% cloudy, although I did see a few holes in the clouds here and there. I decided to hang out and see what would happen and boy, am I glad I did! Persistence really paid off indeed!

By 4:45 am, the sky was clearing and soon after, I was able to begin the watch. I had spotted a few Orionids between the clouds while waiting, so I could tell the shower was most likely still active. In fact, it proved to be significantly more active than it had been 48 hours previous.

Between 4:55 and 5:55 am, in just one hour, I had a whopping total of 52 meteors of all kinds with 33 of them being Orionids! Although much more numerous, the Orionids were also significantly fainter then they had been. I didn't see any Orionids brighter than about +2 in magnitude, while the majority were +3 and +4, even a few at +5! The dark skies really helped me pick out the many tiny, short, faint Orionids this morning.

And not only the Orionids were active, I also spotted 4 members of the epsilon Geminid minor shower and 3 Taurids. Towards the end of the hour, a nice +2 Leonid lookalike shot SSW well below Orion.

Here's the rundown on the quite productive hour I had this morning, thank goodness the clouds gave me that one hour of clear skies!

4:55 to 5:55 am - 33 Orionids, 4 epsilon Geminids, 3 Taurids and 12 sporadics (including one +1 Leonid lookalike) for a total of 52 meteors.

The Orionids should have a couple more days of potentially good activity, so if the clouds allow, I shall give it another go in the morning for sure!