(meteorobs) September 8, 2004 Meteor Observations from California

[Robert Lunsford]

For the first time since the Perseids I was able to get out and do some
viewing. I drove to the Pine Valley Viewpoint to get away from the city
lights and hazy air. Unfortunately the mountain sky was covered with
altocumulus during the first two hours of observing, severely limiting the
number of meteors seen. By the time it cleared for the third hour the fat
crescent moon was high in the east dropping the limiting magnitude below
+6.0. Despite this handicap the last hour was active producing fifteen
meteors. A surprising four members of the Alpha Aurigids was plotted during
the last hour. This is often stronger than I see them on the night of
maximum activity. They were more active than the September Perseids, which
were predicted to be at maximum activity tonight.

I am going to try again tomorrow night to see if I can do better!


September 8, 2004

0900-1002 UT  1.00  6.52   0 ANT   0 AUR  1 DAU   1 NPX
                                            0 SPX    1 SPO   3  TOTAL

1002-1103 UT  1.00  6.18   0 ANT   0 AUR  0 DAU   0 NPX
                                            0 SPX    2 SPO   2  TOTAL

1100-1200 UT  1.35  5.93   2 ANT   4 AUR  2 DAU   0 NPX
                                            0 SPX    8 SPO   15  TOTAL

TOTALS:          3.35  6.18   2 ANT   4 AUR  3 DAU   1 NPX
                                            0 SPX    10 SPO   20  TOTAL

The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PDT + 7 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky where 1.00 equals sixty
minutes. The third column gives the average limiting magnitude estimated
during each period. The last several columns list the activity seen during
 each period. I was facing north at an altitude of 50 degrees during the
entire session. No breaks were taken.  ANT = Antihelion radiant, AUR
= Alpha Aurigids, DAU = September Perseids, NPX = Northern Apex,
SPX = Southern Apex and SPO = Sporadics (random activity).

Location: Pine Valley Viewpoint 116 29' 43" W 32 49' 49" N  ELE = 1300 m

Bortle Scale Estimate: Inapplicable due to moonlight.

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 72 F (22 C) 52%
Ending              "               "             "        67 F (19 C) 45%

MAGNITUDES:

ANT:  -1 (0) 0 (1)  +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0)   AVE: +3.00
AUR : -1 (1) 0  (1) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (1) +5 (0)   AVE: +1.50
DAU:  0 (1) +1 (1) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)   AVE: +1.67
NPX:  0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)   AVE: +1.00
SPO:   0 (1) +1 (3) +2 (4) +3 (1) +4 (2) +5 (0) +6 (0)   AVE: +2.00

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA