(meteorobs) Pre-max Perseid observation from north Florida

[Paul Jones]

Greetings all,
      I was finally able to get back out under the stars this morning for
another look at the pre-peak 2011 PERs.  I was well rewarded with yet
another lively hour of pre dawn activity under the excellent sky conditions
of the "blocking high" that (thankfully) keeps the tropical storms and
hurricanes well away from us.
      The hour began with a nice spurt of activity, died out in the middle,
then finished with an even bigger burst to get me up over 30/hour overall
rates again.  The PERs finally kicked in good at the end and I ended up with
a total of 13, though none were bright.  I was also pleasantly surprised by
two nice CAPS and two long, earthgrazer type candidates of the Eridanid
shower, that Bob Lunsford mentioned in his session and weekly report.  I
fell in love them instantly...;o)!
      Anyhow, here is the data:

  Date:  Aug 06/07, 2011
Location:  5 miles SW of St. Augustine, Florida  Long 81  33 W, Lat 29 09 N
8:15 - 9:15 UT (0415 - 0515 EDT)  Teff - 1.0, F- 1.00, Lm - 6.2  20% horizon
obstruction (trees), facing south CFOV:  RA 350  Dec +10  Counting/paper
method

PER - 13
SDA - 3
CAP - 2
ERI - 2
ANT - 1
SPO - 13

Total meteors:  34

and... 8 artificial satellites

Magnitudes:

PER:  +1 (1), +2 (2), +3 (4), +4 (3), +5 (3)
SDA : +2 (1), +3 (2)
CAP:  +1 (1), +2 (1)
ERI:   +1 (1), +2 (1)
ANT:  +3 (1)
SPO:  +1 (2), +2 (2), +3 (4), +4 (4), +5 (1)

One of the +2 PERs left a train that lasted about three seconds on the sky.
A couple of the brighter PERs had a tinge of yellow in them, as did the +1
CAP.
The two ERIs were the highlight of the session, however.  Both were long and
gorgeous with spreading trains and the orangish tint so common in
earthgrazers.  Each one's path easily exceeded twenty degrees on the sky and
they reminded me very much of eta Aqauriids in appearance coming up out of
the SE sky.  Keep an eye out for these beauties during your PER watches!

Clear skies, Paul in St. Augustine
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