(meteorobs) IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT: 11/12 Aug 2004, Lew Gramer (GRALE)

Lewis J. Gramer lgramer at upstream.net
Tue Aug 24 19:11:45 EDT 2004


Here is the summary report for the final night I got to observe during my
Florida Perseids campaign this year. Fellow observer Jeff Wilson was out
with me in the Everglades - I'm still hoping Jeff will change his mind and
share what he observed with us here on the list! ;-)

We also made a couple of new observing friends among the members of the
local SFAAA at the site that night - I surely look forward to watching
other major meteor shower peaks with both Arno and Don in the future!

A very interesting thread of questions came out of analyzing this night's
data - having to do with how I divided my session into Observing Periods.
I'll summarize that line of questions in a follow-up email to this one...

Clear skies all!
Lew Gramer


================================================================================
IMO METEOR SUMMARY REPORT
================================================================================

Observer's Name: Lew Gramer             IMO Observer Code: GRALE
EVENING Date (UT): 11-Aug-2004          IMO Showers Active that Date:
MORNING Date (UT): 12-Aug-2004           KCG,NIA,CAP,SDA,NDA,SIA,PER,PAU
Session Start Time (UT): 05:10
Session End Time (UT):   08:33

Observing Site Location: Area 51 site, Everglades FL USA       IMO Site Code:
        Site Latitude: 26.14    Longitude: -80.88       Elevation: 1m

Observing Methods ("x" all that apply:)
        X=Manual (pencil/paper)

Showers Observed (Enter all IMO 3-letter or other shower mnemonics you used):

Shower Name     Perseids    Kappa Cyg   Capricornids    Unspecified Aqr-Cap
3-letter Code   PER         KCG         CAP             AQR
Longitude       045         284         319             -
Declination     +58         +58         -05             -
Radiant  Size   5           5           5               -
Right Ascen.    03:00       18:56       21:16           -


================================================================================
Summary of All Meteor Data for the Session
================================================================================
# Start End  CFV    Teff LM   F    PER    KCG    CAP    AQR    Spor   TOTAL
1 5:10  6:10 322+65 0.85 6.65 1.0  28     0      1      3      5      37
2 6:10  7:24 330+50 0.86 6.50 1.0  32     0      0      1      11     44
3 7:24  8:33 000+45 0.84 6.33 1.0  38     0      0      2      14     54

TOTALS              2.55 6.49 1.0  98     0      1      6      30     135
Average Magnitudes                 2.44   *      3.00   3.50   3.38   2.70


IMO Visual Meteor Report - Lew Gramer (GRALE), Night of 11-Aug-2004

LIMITING MAGNITUDES                     CLOUDS / OBSTRUCTIONS
Time    Field   Count   LM              Start   End     % Obscured    Duration
5:10    13      18      6.5             5:10    8:33    0%            3:23
5:57    7       27      6.9
5:57    13      19      6.5
7:10    7       19      6.3
7:10    18      18      6.5
7:45    7       19      6.3
7:45    18      17      6.4
8:15    7       18      6.3
8:15    18      15      6.3
8:33    7       18      6.3
8:33    18      16      6.3

BREAKS
Start   End             Duration                                Breaktime
5:44    5:49            0:05                            Per Period
6:09    6:10            0:01            Period 1                0:06
6:38    6:48            0:10            Period 2                0:19
7:02    7:04            0:02            Period 3                0:14
7:08    7:14            0:06
7:20    7:21            0:01
7:52    8:06            0:14

DEADTIME                0:00:05  / meteor       0:00:50  / plot
                Total - logs plus plots         # Plots Per Period
Period 1                0:03:05                 0
Period 2                0:03:40                 0
Period 3                0:04:30                 0


IMO Visual Meteor Report - Lew Gramer (GRALE), Night of 11-Aug-2004

=======================
MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS
=======================
        -2     -1     0       1      2      3      4      5      6     TOTAL
PER     1      4      5.5     16.5   16.5   27.5   21.5   5.5    0     98
KCG     0      0      0       0      0      0      0      0      0     0
CAP     0      0      0       0      0      1      0      0      0     1
AQR     0      0      0       0      0      4      1      1      0     6
Spor    0      0      0       0      4      12.5   11.5   2      0     30

TOTAL   1      4      5.5     16.5   20.5   45     34     8.5    0     135


=======================
TRAIN DATA - Totals
=======================
Meteors with trains:    21
Percentage with trains: 16%

Per Shower Train Data
                PER     KCG     CAP     AQR     Spor    TOTAL
Number          21      0       0       0       0       21
Percent         21%             0%      0%      0%      16%


=======================
GENERAL COMMENTS ABOUT SESSION (Use as many lines as needed below this one)
=======================
Observation to the south tonight largely precluded by light domes of
 nearby Miami and Ft Lauderdale, by thunderheads, and by cirrus. So
 I faced North during all periods, and couldn't properly distinguish
 meteors from the individual radiants of the AQR-CAP complex.

I got a chance to observe tonight with fellow IMO recorder Jeff Wilson (WILJE).
Hurricane Charley forced us to relocate from the Florida Keys to this site.
It is the prime observing site of the South Florida Amateur Astro Assoc.
We observed with many friendly SFAAA members, and newcomers drawn
 to the site by SFAAA's outreach. Thanks to SFAAA for their hospitality!
Arno Werven and Don Ellington of SFAAA observed casually with us all night.
Weather tonight was sticky: temp from 79oF to 75oF, humidity about 90%.
Mosquitos were innumerable - of all imaginable species and sizes, despite my
 best efforts (coil, fanning, Botanicals, finally in surrender Deep Woods Off).

Highlight of the night (and of this Perseid campaign):
7:53:01UT mag 0 casual PER with -6(!) terminal burst! Yellow-green, 2 sec train

Another highlight, at 06:17 UT, four Perseids were seen within 60 seconds!

Moonrise was about 7:35 UT, but I already noted it lighting E cirrus by 7:30.

PERSEID average magnitudes - broken down by Period
Per     Begin   End     N       Mavg
1       5:10    6:10    28      2.79
2       6:10    7:24    32      2.50
3       7:24    8:33    38      2.14

SPORADIC average magnitudes - broken down by Period
Per     Begin   End     N       Mavg
1       5:10    6:10    5       3.40
2       6:10    7:24    11      3.36
3       7:24    8:33    14      3.39
================================================================================





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