(meteorobs) Aug 2/3, 2013 pre-max PER observations from north Florida

[Paul Jones]

Greetings list,
     I had intended to do two full hours of observing this morning, but
cirrus haze and then a fast moving cloud bank coming in from the west shut
me down after 1 3/4 hours.  Still, I managed 53 total meteors in that
timeframe (2:30 a.m. to 4:15 a.m. EDT) and I recorded my first two negative
magnitude meteors of my 2014 PER campaign.
    The PERs are getting into the 10 - 12 per hour range so far it seemed
to me as of this morning, just as Bob L. predicted they would be.   I had 7
in the first hour and 9 in the 45 minutes of the second hour.  The first
PER of the second hour was a stunner: a multi-colored -3, darned near a
fireball beauty of a meteor!  It flashed and flared along its path and left
a several second long train as it shot across the Great Square of Pegasus.
That one jolted me out of my drowsiness for sure. More like that one
please, PERSEIDS...;o)!!
    The other highlight of the watch was lovely golden, -1 alpha Cap that
flashed through 20 degrees of sky in Andromeda and Cassiopeia.  Beside two
other +1 PERs, all other meteors I saw were pretty much on the faint side.
Here is a quick summary of the watch:

Observer Paul Jones, Location: 5 miles SW of St. Augustine, FL LM: 6.0, 10%
cirrus cloud/haze interference, Facing: south

0630 - 0730 UT (02:30 - 03:30 a.m. EDT) Teff: 1.0
7 PER
3 CAP
6 SDA
2 ANT
14 SPO
32 total meteors

0730 - 0815 UT (03:30 - 04:14 a.m. EDT) Teff: .75 hour
9 PER
4 SDA
1 ANT
7 SPO
21 total meteors

Mags:
PER: -3 (1), +1 (2), +2 (1), +3 (5), +4 (4), +5 (3)
CAP: -1 (1), +3 (2)
ANT: +2 (1), +3 (1), +4 (1)
SDA: +2(1), +3 (6), +4 (2), +5 (1)
SPO: +1 (1), +2 (1), +3 (9), +4 (5), +5 (5)

I'll try again in the morning, although the remains of pesky former
Tropical Storm Dorian are parked right off the SE coast of Florida.  It
will be touch and go for clear skies tonight!

Clear skies and many bright PERs to all,
Paul in north Flordia
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