(meteorobs) Observation August 9/10 2013

Pierre Martin pmartin at teksavvy.com
Sat Aug 10 17:11:40 EDT 2013


After last night's very enjoyable Carp Public Star Party, I drove straight to the Bootland Farm site to join Shane who was there with his camera.  The night was gorgeous (mag 6.5 skies, 4/5 transparency) with the summer Milky Way looking great down to the southern horizon.  Some low lying thin clouds would occasionally approach from the north, but they dissipated as they went by.  A comfortable night, cool, little to no bugs.  The wind also kept things very dry; no dew!  

I formally signed on just before 1am, and observed for three hours.  I saw 119 meteors in all; 64 of which were Perseids.  The second interval (hour) was the most active with 46 meteors.  The Perseids produced some nice meteors, but no fireballs.  Lots of faint stuff.  The rates were pretty much what I'd expect for this night, and the "clumping effect" was evident...At one point, a full 15 minutes went by without seeing a single Perseid but a bit later, a burst of six PERs were seen within four minutes.  The highlight was a very slow and persistent mag +1 SPO that had a deep yellow/orange colour.  The mag +4 ERI seen in Interval 2 was a 50 degrees long earthgrazer that shot into the north-east.

As I drove back home, I saw a bright mag -3 or so flaring Perseid drop down to the east into the morning twilight.  Looking forward to pre-max PERs tonight :)



August 9/10 2013 2013, 04:50-08:00 UT (00:50-04:00 EDT)
Location: Bootland Farm (Stewartville), Ontario, Canada 
(Long: -76 deg 29'; Lat: 45 deg 23')

Observed showers:
Kappa Cygnids (KCG) - 18:56 (284) +49
Alpha Capricornids (CAP) - 20:45 (311) -07
Antihelions (ANT) - 22:04 (331) -10
Delta Aquariids (SDA) - 23:28 (352) -13
Eta Eridanids (ERI) - 02:56 (044) -11
Perseids (PER) 03:12 (048) +58
Alpha Triangulids (ATR) - 03:12 (048) +40


Interval 1: 04:50-05:50 UT; clear with a few thin clouds along horizons; F 1.00; LM 6.55; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr.
PER: fourteen: 0(2); +1(2); +2(2); +3(2); +4(5); +5
ANT: three: +1; +4; +5
SDA: two: +2; +5
KCG: one: +4
CAP: one: +4
ATR: one: 0
Sporadics: eleven: +1(2); +2(3); +3(2); +4(4)
Total meteors: thirty-three

Interval 2: 05:50-06:50 UT; clear with a few thin clouds along horizons; F 1.00; LM 6.58; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr.
PER: twenty-eight: 0(2); +1(6); +2(5); +3(4); +4(6); +5(5)
KCG: three: +3; +5(2)
SDA: two: +5(2)
ATR: one: +1
ERI: one: +4
Sporadics: eleven: -2; +1; +2(2); +3(2); +4(3); +5(2)
Total meteors: forty-six

Interval 3: 06:57-08:00 UT; clear; F 1.00; LM 6.58; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.05 hr.
PER: twenty-two: -1(2); 0; +1(2); +2(4); +3(4); +4(6); +5(3) 
ATR: two: +3; +4
KCG: one: +4
ANT: one +4
CAP: one: +2
SDA: one: +4
ERI: one: +4
Sporadics: eleven: 0; +1(2); +2; +3; +4(4); +5(2)
Total meteors: forty


Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario


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