Having read to this point you may have got the impression that meteor observing consists mainly of recording lots of odd data unconnected with meteors. But that is not the case. Now we reach our main subject: What do you have to do when a meteor appears? The most important thing is to remain calm so that you can record what you have just seen as objectively as possible. Keep looking at the region of sky where you saw the meteor in order to memorize the following data in this order:
The most important information is its direction rather than the exact length and start/end points. Memorize it with respect to the background stars.
Members of a given meteor shower seem to originate from one small area of sky; the radiant. Since you memorized the radiant's position in the sky before the start of the watch you can trace back the meteor's path as an imaginary straight line, to see whether it intersects with the radiant. Now it becomes clear why it is best to look not too far from the radiant. Tracing back the meteor's path over a large distance is difficult and brings in greater uncertainties. If the path can be traced back to the radiant, the meteor was a shower meteor, otherwise it was a sporadic. Please note additionally two general rules:
This means that even if the trail came from the radiant, a meteor in the vicinity of the shower radiant does not belong to the shower if it was very fast and/or very long. A detailed explanation of the reasons for this can be found in Section 6.
Estimate this by comparing the meteor with the brightness of nearby stars you memorized prior to the start of the watch. If you are very certain of the sighting, i.e. if it occured in the center of your viewing field, estimate it to the nearest 0.5mag, e.g. 3.5mag or 1.0mag; otherwise estimate it to the nearest whole magnitude, e.g. 3mag or 1mag.
If you observed a train that persisted after the meteor had disappeared give its duration in seconds. If you detected a train persisting only for a few tenth of a second you may note a "+" as an indication of a so-called wake.
Note that it should theoretically be impossible to detect colors for meteors fainter than magnitude +2. This information is of least value of all the data and can be omitted during your first watches.
Unless you are going to photograph meteors or a fireball appears, the time of individual meteors is of little interest, since you set time labels for each ~30 minutes into your notes.
The duration of a meteor is usually less than one second. This requires exceptional concentration and quick reactions on the part of the observer. This is also the reason why the observer sees only a fraction of the meteors that actually appear.
After storing all the data in your memory you can transfer them to your record. If you are using a tape recorder you start the device and report the data in a format like this: "Perseid, magnitude +0.5, train 3 seconds, white". Then stop recording until the next meteor appears or you want to record limiting magnitudes, etc.
In both recording techniques, you must take care that you do not interrupt your observation by looking at what you are doing. You have to use the tape or the paper 'blind'. The tape should provide no problems but writing blind onto paper requires a little experience.