(meteorobs) Observation August 31/Sept 1 2008

[Pierre Martin]

Hello all,

Catching up on old reports...

Back in early September, I was able to observe the Alpha Aurigids  
under dark, pristine skies -- an abandoned airstrip with excellent  
horizons about 180 km west of Ottawa.  Due to ideal weather  
conditions, several observers (about a dozen altogether) from Ottawa,  
Kingston and Belleville showed up as well, many of which had various  
telescopes.  A number of people were camping for a few nights --  
giving a sense of small star party.  This was a rare opportunity to  
enjoy a few crystal clear nights happening in a row!  The sky was  
pristine with nearly 7th mag stars visible.  I spent a good part of  
the night enjoying various sights through my dob (many thrilling  
views!) and did some astrophotography with a tele-lens.

I then settled into my lawn chair just before 3am (local time) to  
start hunting for Aurigids.  I also kept an eye for any actvity from  
Sirko Molau's video radiants (SUM, AUD, SSL).  In a little less than  
2 hours of viewing, I recorded 3 Aurigids, 3 antihelions, 1 Sept  
Ursid Minorid and 26 sporadics.  All three Aurigids lined up almost  
perfectly with the IMO radiant position.  The brighest meteor was a  
mag 0 blue sporadic that left a 1 sec train.

The one mistake I did was facing my field of view to the east.  The  
zodiacal light became so bright during the last hour that I was  
forced to re-position my chair and switch my field to the south-west  
where the sky was darker :)

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario


DATE: August 31/Sept 1 2008
BEGIN: 06:50 UT (02:50 EDT) END: 08:50 UT (04:50 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -77 15' West; Lat: 45 1' North  Elevation: 800 ft
City & Province: Irvine Lake Airstrip, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: plotting and cord alignment
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
AUR (Alpha Aurigids)______________________________05:36 (084) +42
SUM (Sept Ursid Minorids - non IMO shower)________17:24 (261) +83
AUD (August Draconids - non IMO shower)___________19:28 (292) +65
ANT (Antihelion)__________________________________23:20 (350) -03
SSL (South Sept Lyncids - non IMO shower)_________07:24 (111) +39
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)____FIELD____Teff____F______LM____SPO_AUR_ANT_SUM_AUD_SSL

06:50-07:50___0406+38___0.98___1.00___6.90___15___1___2___1___0___0
07:50-08:50___0342+14___0.98___1.00___6.95___11___2___1___0___0___0

TOTALS:_________________1.96_________________26___3___3___1___0___0   
= 33

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
______0__+1__+2__+3__+4__+5__+6______AVE

SPO___1___2___4___4__10___4___1_____+3.38
AUR___0___1___0___2___0___0___0_____+2.33
ANT___0___0___1___0___1___1___0_____+3.66
SUM___0___0___0___1___0___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: 2 min  (time taken for plotting meteors)

Breaks (UT): none