(meteorobs) Observation July 18/19 2009 - Bootland Farm

[Pierre Martin]

Here's my meteor observation for last Saturday night, from Bootland  
Farm.  I had planned to observe for a couple hours, but only managed  
one hour due to skies clouding over and forcing me to sign off.  When  
I arrived there just before 1:00am, the sky was clear, transparency  
was about 2.5/5, and limiting magnitude of 6.25.  The temperature was  
a comfortable 15C.  The mosquitoes were present in small numbers, but  
they were still annoying enough.  The Thermacell succeeded in bringing  
the mosquitoes down to a minimum which was much better.  Bootland sure  
is a nice site; the grass at the observing field had been freshly cut  
(thanks Tom!).

In one hour, I recorded 11 meteors, all sporadics except for one  
antihelion.  Two meteors of medium-fast velocity radiated from central  
Cygnus, about 8 degrees south of the listed Alpha Cygnids radiant  
postion (DMS).

On my way home, I was treated to a nice banana shaped crescent Moon  
rising.  I'm hoping to get out to catch the Delta Aquarids near their  
peak during the moonless windows this weekend and next week, but the  
weather forecast is not promising.

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario


DATE: July 18/19 2009
BEGIN: 04:55 UT (00:55 EDT) END: 05:55 UT (01:55 EDT)
OBSERVER: Pierre Martin (MARPI)
LOCATION: Long: -76 29' West; Lat: 45 23' North Elevation: 400 ft
Observing site: Bootland Farm, Ontario, CANADA
RECORDING METHOD: talking clock/tape recorder, plotting
----------------------------------------------------------

OBSERVED SHOWERS:_______________________________radiant position
CAP (Alpha Capricornids)_________________________19:52 -12
ANT (Antihelion)_________________________________20:36 -17
SDA (South Delta Aquarids)_______________________22:12 -18
PAU (Pisces Austrinids)__________________________22:16 -33
PER (Perseids)___________________________________00:40 +52
NZC (North June Aquilids - IMO video)____________21:32 -03
SPO (sporadics)
----------------------------------------------------------

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

PERIOD(UT)____FIELD_______Teff____LM____SPO_ANT_CAP_SDA_PAU_PER_NZC

04:55-05:55___20:50 +07___0.97___6.25____10__1___0___0___0___0___0

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), where 1.00 is exactly one hour. 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__+2__+3__+4__+5______AVE

SPO___1___1___1___5___2_____+3.60
ANT___0___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  
(IMO definition). The above table contains the magnitudes from all  
observed meteors, and the average (last column) for showers.
------------------------

SKY OBSCURED (FOV) (UT): None

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

Dead time: 1.75 min (for plotting)

Breaks (UT): none