(meteorobs) Observation August 20/21 2007 (La Verendrye)

[Pierre Martin]

I joined several observers to spend a night out at La Verendrye on  
August 20.  It was truly a magical night shared under pristine skies  
that lived up to the expectations!

Well after moonset, the limiting magnitude was 7.1, and it gradually  
increased late at night reaching 7.2 (using the direct star count  
method).  Only a slight haze could be seen near the horizons that did  
not seem to affect the observations overhead.  The Milky Way in  
Cygnus was incredibly thick-looking (about 20 degrees wide) and  
displayed a complicated network of dark lanes and concentrated  
areas.  This area of the sky was bright enough to cast a very faint  
shadow on the ground.  The zodiacal band, M33 and the NA Nebula were  
all easily visible to the unaided eye.  The cone of the zodiacal  
light in the morning pre-dawn sky was especially bright, as it  
converged with the Milky Way low in the east.  It was truly an  
observer's paradise!

I meteor observed for two hours TEFF, facing the northern sky most of  
the night to look for Kappa Cygnids.  I recorded a total of 55  
meteors (35 sporadics, 8 Kappa Cygnids, 6 Perseids, 4 antihelions and  
2 Epsilon Cassiopeids).  I did take a number of breaks to enjoy the  
views in some of the fine instruments present around me.

The brightest meteor was a mag -1 very swift sporadic that left a 2  
sec train.  The most interesting meteor however was a mag +4 ANT that  
travelled over 30 degrees and flared three times (appearing like a  
rock skipping on a pond).

Pierre Martin,
Ottawa, Ontario


DATE: August 20/21 2007
BEGIN: 0535 UT (0135 EDT) END: 0825 UT (0425 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76 29' West; Lat: 46 59' North   Elevation: 900 ft
City & Province: La Verendrye Forest Reserve, Quebec, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, cord align
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
KCG (Kappa Cygnids)_______________________________19:04 +59
ACP (August Capricornids)_________________________20:24 -11
ANT (Antihelions)_________________________________22:36 -07
SDA (South Delta Aquarids)________________________23:40 -11
ECA (Epsilon Cassiopeids)_________________________02:20 +62
PER (Perseids)____________________________________03:44 +58
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)___FIELD____Teff____F______LM___SPO_KCG_ANT_SDA_PER_ACP_ECA

0535-0642___2028+83___1.00___1.00___7.13___18__5___2___0___3___0___0
0642-0825___2254+84___1.13___1.00___7.18___17__3___2___0___3___0___2

TOTALS:_______________2.13_________________35__8___4___0___6___0___2  
= 55

Note: 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 not spent  
looking at the sky). The 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
______-1___0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5__+6______AVE

SPO____1___1___3___6___4___9___8___3_____+3.43
KCG____0___1___0___2___1___0___2___2_____+3.63
PER____0___0___1___1___2___1___1___0_____+3.00
ANT____0___0___1___0___0___2___1___0_____+3.50
ECA____0___0___0___1___0___1___0___0_____+3.00

Note: 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) (UT): None

------------------------

Dead time: 42 min (breaks)

Breaks (UT): 5:35-37, 6:11-16, 7:17-33, 7:44-46, 8:01-18