(meteorobs) Perseid observation Aug 15/16, Saddleback Mountain Me

Richard Kramer kramer at sria.com
Tue Aug 18 21:51:27 EDT 2009


The observation log follows, below. I haven't computed ZHR for the 
KCG radiant, but it seemed to have enhanced activity between around 
0030 and 0300 UTC, 16 Aug 2009. Did anyone else notice that?

---

The Goal:
Observe the Persied peak from the summit of Saddleback Mountain, Maine, USA.

Unfortunately, the weather had other ideas.

The revised Goal:
Observe the post-peak Perseids from the summit of Saddleback 
Mountain, Maine, USA.

This summit provides an unobstructed, 360 degree view of some of the 
darkest skies in the northeastern United States.

The Adventure

Some list members may recall the account of my 2007 attempt to 
observe the Perseids peak from the top of Saddleback Mountain, with 
two daughters, when were able to squeeze in about 40 minutes of 
observing time before being driven off the summit by a 
lightning-filled squall line. We were greeted that next morning with 
an intimate view of the inside of the clouds in sideways rain.

This year, the clouds returned to the mountain during the Perseid 
peak. It hardly seemed necessary to repeat the previous study of 
internal cloud anatomy, so this year I waited for a high pressure 
system approaching from the southwest to push the clouds out before 
beginning the six hour drive to the mountain. Also, none of my 
daughters was available so I recruited a friend to accompany me on 
the adventure.

The hike follows the famous Appalachian Trail (AT), a total of 5.6 
miles (8.9 KM) to the summit with a vertical gain of about 2700 feet 
(900 meters). Since the summit is very exposed with a potential for 
cold nighttime temperatures and high winds, we packed gear sufficient 
to spend a comfortable night under the stars down to 30 degrees F (0 
deg C). In order to avoid dealing with the need to purify the 
plentiful local water (giardia and other parasites can be found in 
the streams and ponds), we also carried enough water for the trip, 
about 16 pounds (7 Kg) each. With all this gear and water, our packs 
weighed in at around 50 pounds (23 Kg) each. Along the trail, we met 
quite a few hikers who began hiking the AT in March, starting some 
2500 miles (4000 KM) to the south in Georgia. Most of them were 
following the ultralight strategy with packs weighing about 25 pounds 
(11 Kg) including water and around 5 days of provisions.

We drove up Friday and hiked in about 1.5 miles (2.5 KM) to spend the 
night in a lean-to shelter near a spectacular cantilevered granite 
boulder called Piazza Rock. That evening, we took a print out of 
satellite passes (courtesy of the excellent heavens above website, 
http://www.heavens-above.com/) to the top of Piazza Rock for some 
informal observing through a 20 by 40 degree opening in the tree 
canopy. Between 8:45 and 10 PM local time we were encouraged by 
several negative magnitude PER Earth grazers along with a couple of 
sporadics while watching the various satellites pass overhead.

On Saturday, we climbed the remaining 4 miles (6.5 KM) to the summit. 
The weather was humid and the steep trail was rather wet and muddy 
thanks to the plentiful rains of the past several months. The 
mosquitos and biting flies were plentiful, but for reasons unknown, 
they didn't seem hungry. We never needed to use the insect repellent 
we were carrying. Winds were from the north, which normally brings 
dry Canadian air. Unfortunately, this time the high pressure system 
was taking hot, humid air from the southern US and recirculating it 
over the top of the high down onto our mountain. The result was high 
humidity, scattered cumulus clouds, and a layer of haze.

Since we arrived with plenty of time until sunset, we dropped our 
packs on the summit and hiked another 2 miles to check out the view 
from the next 4000 foot (1200 M) peak along the trail, The Horn.

Back on Saddleback, after a satisfying dinner of ramen noodles we 
spread out our sleeping bags on the granite summit literally in the 
middle of the AT, strategically placing our packs to block the brisk 
wind. The sun disappeared into the haze layer before it could reach 
the horizon. We began observing informally, watching for satellites 
and becoming reacquainted with stars and constellations which are 
lost under our Boston, MA area megapolitan light dome. Soon a couple 
of bright Earth grazers confirmed that the Perseids were still 
active. The KCG radiant seemed quite active, yielding a couple of 
really majestic, orange, negative magnitude meteors, slow compared to 
the Perseids.

Around 9 PM we were treated to a blindingly bright (at least mag -8), 
unexpected satellite flare (not an Iridium). There were also a couple 
of Earth grazers rising out of the southeast. I clocked on at 9:33 
local time and continued logging until my efficiency dropped off as 
fatigue finally settled in. It think I must have been missing some of 
the dimmer meteors because the diffusion by the haze was making them 
harder to see than the LM would suggest.

I awoke around 3 AM to find a brillant waning crescent moon shining 
over my toes, glistening off of the thick layer of dew covering my 
sleeping bag. Venus had risen, and Mars was also looking down on us. 
Rising on my right elbow, I could still see Jupiter dropping towards 
the western horizon. Despite the moon, I could still see all 7 stars 
of the little dipper, so I decided to clock on. Unfortunately, I had 
left my notebook out, uncovered, next to my sleeping back and it was 
sopping wet with dew. There is no way I could write in it. So I 
contented myself with some informal observing and satellite watching. 
The final satellite pass on my list was a morning twilight pass of 
the ISS at 4:49 local time at magnitude -0.5. The maximum altitude 
was only 13 degrees above the southeastern horizon, so I didn't have 
much hope in seeing it through the layer of haze. Nonetheless, it 
appeared right on schedule and was visible all the way into the 
brightening southeastern sky. It's amazing how high 13 degrees 
appears when watching from the top of a mountain!

As the sky continued to brighten, I woke my companion. With the stars 
nearly gone, we reviewed the trip's successes. "All we need," I said, 
"for a great finish, would be a morning twilight fireball."  Not two 
minutes later, a spectacular orange fireball, brighter than Venus, 
slowly ascended some 50 degrees towards the zenith from the ESE 
horizon, leaving a 1 second train!

We were not happy to have to leave that beautiful place. The hike out 
to the car down the steep, wet, muddy, rocky, root filled trail was a 
bit tedious, but not unpleasant. The insects continued to ignore us. 
We emerged from the wilderness a bit muddy, and thoroughly satisfied.

Richard

-----

// Header section

night    	2009-08-15/16
observer	"Richard" "Kramer"
location	70 30 00 W, 44 56 00 N
site    	"Top of Saddleback Mountain, ME" "United States"
elevation	1255 meters

// Shower section

shower	PER 046 +58
shower	KCG 286 +59
shower	SPO

// Number section

// 	Interval  	RA  	Dec 	Teff 	F    	Lm  	   PER 	   KCG 	   SPO
period	0133-0215 	280 	+15 	0.675 	1.00 	5.20	C   1 	C   4 	C   2
period	0215-0251 	280 	+15 	0.570 	1.00 	5.70	C   3 	C   1 	C   4
period	0251-0315 	330 	+20 	0.380 	1.00 	6.20	C   1 	C   0 	C   2

// Magnitude section

//          	Show 
Interval     -6    -5    -4    -3    -2    -1    +0    +1    +2    +3 
    +4    +5    +6    +7    Tot
distribution 
PER 	0133-0215   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0 
  0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    1.0
distribution 
PER 	0215-0251   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0 
  2.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    3.0
distribution 
PER 	0251-0315   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0 
  1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    1.0
distribution 
KCG 	0133-0215   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   3.0   1.0 
  0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    4.0
distribution 
KCG 	0215-0251   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0 
  0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    1.0
distribution 
SPO 	0133-0215   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   1.0   0.0   0.0 
  0.0   1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    2.0
distribution 
SPO 	0215-0251   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   2.0   1.0   0.0 
  1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    4.0
distribution 
SPO 	0251-0315   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   1.0   0.0 
  1.0   0.0   0.0   0.0   0.0    2.0

// Personal comments

Wind 20 mph (32 kph)
Temp 60 F (15.5 C)
Humid air mass, observing through light haze layer
All Per > mag 3 were green
Brighter KCG were orange
Probably under counted dimmer ones due to diffusing effects of the haze layer




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