(meteorobs) North Carolina Perseids

[meteors at comcast.net]

I was in the Uwharrie National Forest area of central North Carolina 
visiting family during the weekend and went out two mornings attempting 
to view the Perseids.

On the morning of August 10/11 a two-hour watch starting at 2335 EDT 
resulted in nothing but clouds. It was still an enjoyable time though as 
I had a couple family members with me. They had never observed meteors 
before, and I am sure the clouds and loss of sleep did nothing to 
convince them to become nocturnal meteor observers.

The next morning, August 11/12, was more frustrating. The weather 
forecasts were not very encouraging, but ClearSkyClock was showing a 
couple hours of clearing skies beginning around midnight. I set up 
beside my truck a couple minutes after midnight with the only clouds 
visible hugging the eastern horizon. On cue, the clouds began drifting 
toward the zenith, and I spent the next two hours with a "wall" of 
clouds running north to south about 20 degrees to the west of my zenith. 
 From there toward the western horizon it was perfectly clear! During 
those two hours I saw 4 meteors travel out of the clouds toward the west 
that could have been Perseids, but I couldn't be certain. Wisely, after 
the two hours, I gave up, packed up and drove on back to Charleston. It 
remained cloudy all the way home...

-- 
Mark Davis, South Carolina, USA
meteors at comcast.net
namn at namnmeteors.org

North American Meteor Network (NAMN)
http://www.namnmeteors.org/