(meteorobs) Meteor report from Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve, 2008-08-06/07

[Bruce McCurdy]

    Headed out to RASC Edmonton Centre's dark site at the Blackfoot Staging 
Area within the Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve on Thursday morning. Arrived 
a little later than planned, and was pleasantly surprised to find three 
RASCals hard at it, including Jnani Cevvel, Ron Salyzyn, and Eric 
Solomonson, as well as a non-member Pat ???. While they continued with their 
telescopic programs, I settled in for a couple of very pleasant hours of 
naked-eye observing. Conditions were less than perfect, as the horizons were 
way milky while high overhead the Milky Way looked like an unsharp mask of 
itself. But still not bad, all things considered.

    In the second hour the sky was already brightening as we approached 4 
a.m. local time, and the total number of meteors dropped slightly. However, 
after spotting nothing brighter than magnitude 0 in the first hour, I had no 
fewer than six meteors of negative magnitude in that second hour, including 
a bronze, Venus-bright beauty with a 1.5-second persistent train that Jnani 
and I both observed in our direct vision just up above the radiant. I also 
caught a mag -2 pure-white Perseid whose train persisted for about 2.5 
seconds, as well as a gorgeous Kappa Cygnid of mag -1 ... I always have 
loved those slow ones.

    The southern radiants were relatively inactive with just three 
identified members from the four sources combined, but overall I observed 
some 31 meteors including 18 Perseids so was pretty satisfied with the 
night's yield.

    Bruce
    *****


Observer: Bruce McCurdy, MCCBR
Date: 2008 August 7, 08:05 - 10:    ; Teff = 2.0 hours
Location: Beaver Hills Dark Sky Preserve (Blackfoot), [IMO Location Code 
51128],
   112°, 46m 48s W, 53°32'12" N, elevation 711 metres
Limiting magnitude: 6.1 and dropping // SQM = 21.3 and dropping
Conditions: Intermittent thin cloud
Direction faced: East in first hour, North in second
Method: Visual; microcassette recorder and talking watch
   Comments in "quotations" are verbatim transcripts
   / = description of meteor in path length and duration
   ~ = description of persistent train in length and duration

Active radiants:
Kappa Cygnids (KCG)  18:52 (283) +58   Velocity - 25km/sec.
Alpha Capricornids (CAP)  20:44 (311) -08   Velocity - 23km/sec.
Antihelion (ANT) - 21:32 (323) -13   Velocity - 30km/sec.
Delta Aquariids (SDA)  22:52 (343) -15   Velocity - 41km/sec.
Pisces Austrinids (PAU)  23:04 (346) -28  Velocity - 35km/sec.
Perseid (PER)  02:16 (034) +55   Velocity - 59km/sec.

08:05-09:05, LM = 6.1, facing East 50°, Teff = 1.0 hour
Time    Type    Mag    Comment
-----------------------------------
08:05                      start, LM = 6.1
08:07    PER    +2
08:11    PER    0    white, ~ 0.5 s
08:11    PER    +2
08:11    SDA   +4
08:14    PER    +4
08:17    PER    +3
08:24    Spor    +3
08:30    Spor    +4
08:35    KCG    +2    slow, no train, / 15°
08:37    Spor    +1
08:40    PER    +5
08:43    PER     0    ~ 1s
08:43    ANT    +4
08:47    Spor    +4
08:53    PER    +2    short, near radiant in Cass
08:57    PER    +4    short path, within Perseus
09:02    Spor    +5
***
1 KCG:    +2
0 CAP
1 ANT:    +4
1 SDA:    +4
/ PAU
9 PER:    0 (2), +2 (3), +3, +4 (2), +5
5 Spor:    +1, +3, +4 (2), +5
Total meteors: seventeen
*****

09:05-10:20 w. 15-minute break; avg. LM = 5.7, facing North 50°, Teff = 1.0 
hour
Time    Type    Mag    Comment
-----------------------------------

09:07    PER    +4
09:08    PER    +1
09:10    PER    -1    / 15°, ~ 1s
09:14    PER    -2    / 10°, ~ 2.5 s, white
09:15    PER    +3
09:19    PER    -1    ~ 1s, slightly brighter than nearby Capella
09:20-09:35    Break;  some extinction in my observing field; SQM = 21.0
09:38    PER    -4    / 15°, ~ 1.5s, "bronze-y tinge"
09:46    KCG    -1    ~ 1s
09:52    SDA    +2    / 20°         SQM = 20.6
09:57    Spor    +4
10:00    Spor    -2    ~ 2.0 s
10:03    Spor    +1    ~ 1.0 s
10:12    PER    +2    white, almost no wake    SQM = 19.9
10:14    PER    0     yellowish
10:20                    end
***
1 KCG:    -1
0 CAP
0 ANT
1 SDA:    +2
0 PAU
9 PER:    -4, -2, -1 (2), 0, +1,  +2, +3, +4
3 Spor:    -2, +1, +4
Total meteors: fourteen
*****

Observing summary
Teff = 2.0 hours

2 KCG:    -1, +2                    [Mean = +0.5]
0 CAP
1 ANT:    +4                        [Mean = +4]
2 SDA:    +2, +4                    [Mean =    +3.0]
0 PAU
18 PER:    -4, -2, -1 (2), 0 (3), +1, +2 (4), +3 (2), +4 (3), +5
[Mean = +1.33]
8 Spor:    -2, +1 (2), +3, +4 (3), +5            [Mean = +2.75]
Total meteors: thirty-one
*****