(meteorobs) Observations from Oregon 2011 August 13

[Wes Stone]

I braved the moon and ventured out into my yard for Perseid observations. 
The yard is tree-lined with a mostly unobstructed view to the south--great, 
except when there's a full moon to the southwest. I ended up in a different 
part of my yard, facing northeast and accepting obstructions to the west and 
southwest. There had been some high clouds in the evening, which would have 
been a real killer with the moon, but they seemed to be mostly gone.

Limiting magnitude was initially 5.4 and improved somewhat as the moon sank. 
Meteor activity was very slow at the beginning, and my first two meteors 
weren't even Perseids. With the Aquarid complex behind me and behind the 
trees, I wasn't able to associate these meteors with radiants, so 3-4 
possible minor-shower members ended up as "sporadics" on my report. A 
violet -2 Kappa Cygnid early in the watch was less ambiguous and was the 
best meteor of the morning.

Perseid activity picked up in fits and starts, and sporadic activity was 
very low. I ended up seeing 51 Perseids and 9 other meteors in 2.2 hours of 
Teff. I stopped recording at 1157 UT, more because I was feeling a bit fuzzy 
than because twilight was brightening rapidly. I kept watching, and a funny 
thing happened--between 1200 and 1210 I saw 12 Perseids and 2 sporadics, 
easily the best rates of the entire morning.

Looking back, I see that my rates were in line with previous moon-bugaboo 
years of 2003 and 2006.

Summary Reports (already submitted short intervals to IMO)
Observer: Wesley Stone (STOWE)
Location: Chiloquin, OR (42d 35m N, 121d 52m W)
Method: Counting/Paper
Date: 2011 August 13

Interval 1: 0930-1039UT (2:30-3:39am PDT)
Teff: 1.00 hours
F: 1.18
LM: 5.3
Total Meteors: 25
KCG: 1 [-2]
PER: 20 [-1(2), 0(2), +1(5), +2(6), +3(5)] mean=1.5
Spo: 4 [-1(1), 0(1), +1(2)] mean=0.2


Interval 2: 1044-1157UT (3:44-4:57am PDT)
Teff: 1.20 hours
F: 1.18
LM: 5.8
Total Meteors: 35
KCG: 0
PER: 31 [-2(2), 0(6), +1(4), +2(6), +3(11), +4(2)] mean=1.7
Spo: 4 [+1(2), +2(2)] mean=1.5

--
"In the blink of an eye,
stars'll fall from the sky,
and no one even notices."
--Steve Earle