(meteorobs) Obs: 20/21 May 2006

[pmartsching at mchsi.com]

21 May 2006 03:15 - 07:30 (CDST 20/21 May 2006 10:15pm - 2:30am)

Paul Martsching
McFarland Park Observatory 4 miles NE of Ames, Story County, Iowa
Long: 93 deg 34 min W   Lat: 42 deg 05 min N    Elevation: 318 meters
Method: Visual; paper, pencil & talking clock

Antihelion
Sporadics

03:15-04:15; 68 deg F; wind W 5 mph; clear; average limiting magnitude 5.9;
facing E 50 degrees; Total teff 1.0 hour (1 jet)
Time   mag.  type   comment
03:26  +3    Spor  
Antihelion: none
Sporadic: +3
Total meteors: 1

Break: clouds moving thru

05:00-06:00; 65 deg F; wind NW 5 mph; clear; average limiting magnitude 5.9;
facing E 50 degrees; Total teff 1.0 hour (1 airplane)
Time   mag.  type   comment
05:09  +2    Spor
05:10  +1    Spor
05:28  +1    ANT    orange
Antihelion: +1
Sporadics: +1, +2
Total meteors: 3

Break: clouds moving thru

06:30-07:30; 60 deg F; wind N 10 mph; mostly clear; 5% cloud cover; average
limiting magnitude 5.8; facing NE 50 degrees (fewer clouds this direction);
Total teff 1.0 hour (1 jet)
Time   mag.   type   comment
06:35  +4     Spor
06:49  -1     ANT    yellow
07:22  +2     Spor
Antihelion: -1
Sporadic: +2, +4
Total meteors: 3

Partly to mostly cloudy 07:30 - 09:15; crescent Moon rose ~08:00; did not see
comet because of clouds.   The sky wouldn't have been quite so bad, but for the
jet contrails.  After Moon rise, as the North wind blew the spreading jet
contrails Southward, filaments of cirrus 30 to 40 degrees long trailled each
contrail. Most jet contrails here are oriented East-West, probably because of
all the air traffic between Chicago and Omaha and Denver. As a result
substantial areas of the sky, which might otherwise have been clear, were
obscured by East-West curtains of cirrus.

Magnitude distribution
Anthelhion: -1, +1
Sporadics: +1, +2(2), +3, +4
Total meteors: 7