(meteorobs) Visual Observations July 26, 2008

[Robert Lunsford]

The first night of my Delta Aquariid watch was held from the Alpine 
Viewpoint, adjacent to highway 8, just east of the town of Alpine, 
California. The sky was clear right to the coast so driving any further east 
would not have gained much in darkness, especially with the fat waning 
crescent moon in the sky. This site has an excellent southern horizon and 
the constellations of Grus and Phoenix were easily visible. I started 
counting at 1am PDT and activity was pretty slow, slower than it should have 
been despite the moonlight. Limiting magnitudes averaged +6.80 during that 
first hour but fell as the night progressed and the moon approached my field 
of view. Rates rose slightly during the second and third hours. During the 
last hour fatigue set in and I only saw three meteors.

The shower activity was none too impressive considering the fact it was only 
one day before the predicted SDA maximum. It was still nice to get out under 
the stars and a few puffy altocumulus clouds that often blocked the moon. 
Luckily the clouds managed to avoid my field of view most of the night. 
Those that did were low on the southern horizon and easily avoided by 
looking a bit higher in the sky.

The highlight of the night was an impressive magnitude -2 orange earthgrazer 
that started out low in the east and shot high into the southwestern sky. I 
was lucky that it passed through the upper portion of my video camera so it 
was caught on tape.

Video data from this session will be posted ASAP.
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Observer: Robert Lunsford (LUNRO)
Date: 08-Jul-26 Mean Solar Long: 123.665
Beginning Time (UT) 0800
Ending Time (UT) 1200
Total TeFF: 4.00
42% Illuminated Moon visible during entire session

LOCATION: Alpine Viewpoint, CA, USA
LONG: 116 43' 00" W LAT: 32 50' 00" N
Elevation: 630 m Bortle Scale: Class 4: Rural/Sub. Transition
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 73F (23C) - 46%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 69F (21C) - 46%
METHOD: Visual Recording on Tape/Video Recording
--------------------------
Showers Observed
CAP 20:16 (304) -11    00-00-01-00    1   Total
ANT 21:04 (316) -15    01-01-00-00    2   Total
SDA 22:32 (338) -17    01-03-03-00    7   Total
PER 01:32 (023) +53    01-00-01-01    3   Total
SPO                              01-02-03-02    8   Total

Hourly Counts               04-06-08-03    21 Total
---------------------------
Period 1   0800-0900 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds) Mean LM 6.80
FOV 300 -10 TOTAL TeFF: 1.00
Mean Solar Long: 123.598

Meteor Data:
CAP  0,  ANT 1, SDA 1,  PER 1,  SPO 1,  TOTAL 4

Magnitude Distribution
ANT +4 (1)  Mean +4.00
SDA +1 (1)  Mean +1.00
PER  +3 (1)  Mean +3.00
SPO +2 (1)  Mean + 2.00
----------------------------
Period 2   0900-1000 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds) Mean LM 6.63
FOV 315 -10 TOTAL TeFF: 1.00
Mean Solar Long: 123.637

Meteor Data:
CAP  0,  ANT 1, SDA 3,  PER 0,  SPO 2,  TOTAL 6

Magnitude Distribution
ANT +1 (1)  Mean +1.00
SDA +2 (1)  +3 (2)  Mean +2.67
SPO  -2 (1)  +3 (1)  Mean +0.50
----------------------------
Period 3 1000-1100 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds) Mean LM 6.59
FOV 330 -10 TOTAL TeFF: 1.00
Mean Solar Long: 123.677

Meteor Data:
CAP  1,  ANT 0,  SDA 3,  PER 1,  SPO 3,  TOTAL 8

Magnitude Distribution
CAP +3 (1)              Mean +3.00
SDA +2 (2)  +4(1)   Mean +2.67
PER  +2 (1)             Mean +2.00
SPO +2 (3)             Mean +2.00
----------------------------
Period 4 1100-1200 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds) Mean LM 6.02
FOV 345 -10 TOTAL TeFF: 0.50 (Tired)
Mean Solar Long: 123.717

Meteor Data:
CAP  0,  ANT 0,  SDA 0,  PER 1,  SPO 2,  TOTAL 3

Magnitude Distribution

PER  +2 (1)              Mean +2.00
SPO  +2 (1)  +4(1)   Mean +3.00
----------------------------
Total Magnitude Distribution
CAP +3 (1)                                       Mean +3.00
ANT +1 (1)  +4(1)                            Mean +2.50
SDA +1 (1)  +2 (3)  +3 (2)  +4 (1)    Mean +2.43
PER  +2 (2)  +3 (1)                           Mean +2.33
SPO  -2 (1)  +2 (5)  +3 (1)  +4 (1)    Mean +1.88

Bob Lunsford