(meteorobs) Observation July 23/24 2004

[Pierre Martin]

This July is one of the worse I've seen here for meteor observing here. 
  If the skies have not been overcast, it's been polluted with dust, 
smog and/or smoke from forest fires.  Last weekend, the weather finally 
improved and I finally made it to a dark sky site.

However, I'm not sure if there's much worth in posting this meteor 
report from last Saturday morning at La Verendrye (extremely dark sky 
site in northern Quebec), since it is so short!  Even though the skies 
started out very nice and clear (and dark) + some auroras, I was so 
tired that there was no way I was able to get comfortable and keep my 
eyes open for any length of time before falling back asleep.  As a 
result, there's some huge dead times and I know that I certainly must 
have missed lots of meteors.

The result is a log of just 5 rather ordinary-looking sporadics.  No 
shower members (even though I had seen quite a few a bit earlier in the 
night while I was more alert - viewing through telescopes).

Hopefully, I'll be getting the last moonless window late tonight to see 
the Delta Aquarids complex near their peak.  And I'll be more rested!  
I'll report tomorrow...

Clear skies!

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario



DATE: July 23/24 2004
BEGIN: 0505 UT (0105 EDT)  END: 0619 UT (0219 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76 29' West; Lat: 46 59' North  Elevation: 1300 ft
City & Province: Réserve Faunique La Vérendrye, Quebec, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_____________________________________radiant position
		CAP (Alpha Capricornids)_______________________20:12 (303) -11
		ACG (Alpha Cygnids)____________________________20:36 (309) +48
		ANT (antihelions)______________________________21:08 (317) -15
		SIA (South Iota Aquarids)______________________21:28 (322) -17
		NDA (North Delta Aquarids)_____________________21:32 (323) -09
		SDA (South Delta Aquarids)_____________________22:28 (337) -17
		PAU (Piscis Austrinids)________________________22:32 (338) -31
		PER (Perseids)_________________________________01:32 (023) +54
		NPX (sporadics from north apex)________________02:08 (032) +27
		SPX (sporadics from south apex)________________02:08 (032) -03
		SPO (random sporadics)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVING PERIODS: 0 = none seen;  / = shower not observed

PERIOD(UT)_FIELD___Teff_LM___CAP_ACG_ANT_SIA_NDA_SDA_PAU_PER_NPX_SPX_SPO

0505-0619__2039+10_0.45_6.68__0___0___0___0___0___0___0___0___2___0___3 
= 5

The first column (Period UT) refers to observing periods broken down as 
close as possible to one hour of true observing, in Universal Time. The 
second column (Field) is the area in in the sky where I centered my 
field of view. The third column (TEFF) represents effective observing 
time (corrected for breaks or any time I did not spent looking at the 
sky).  The next column (LM) is the average naked eye limiting 
magnitude, determined by triangle star counts. All following columns 
indicate the number of meteors for each shower observed.
------------------------

MAGNITUDE DISTRIBUTIONS:

SHOWER
______+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO____1___1___2___1_____+3.60

Note: Magnitude scale is to determine the brightness of sky objects. 
Magnitude -8 is comparable to a quarter moon, magnitude -4 with the 
planet Venus, magnitude -1 with the brightest star Sirius, magnitude +2 
to +3 with most average naked eye stars and magnitude +6 to +7 are the 
faintest stars the naked eye can see under typical dark conditions. A 
meteor of at least magnitude -3 is considered a fireball.  The above 
table contains the magnitudes from all observed meteors, and the 
average (last column) for showers.
------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV): None (F = 1.00)
------------------------

Dead time: 47 min.

Breaks (UT): 5:21-5:41, 5:45-6:00, 6:05-6:17
-------------------------