(meteorobs) Eta Aquarids from Iowa

[pmartsching at mchsi.com]

It has been a very snowy, rainy, cold and cloudy April and May here in central Iowa.  It snowed at least 6 inches the first three days of May in addition to two inches of rain during the first 5 days of May.  This morning may have been my only chance at anything remotely resembling good conditions for the Eta Aquarids this years.

Obvious fog up to 5 degrees above the horizon all around on the drive home, with worse fog in low places.  The Eta Aquarids must have been doing very well to see eleven in one hour this far North and under not very good conditions.

The first hour was very poor, but at 07:51 UT occurred one of the longest meteors I have ever seen.  A mag +1 yellow ETA began below the level of Enif in the East and ended 20 degrees West of Cor Corali.  The second hour was much better with several negative magnitude ETA's.

McFarland Park 4 miles NE of Ames, Story County, Iowa, USA
Long: 93 deg 34 min W    Lat: 42 deg 05 min N  Elevation: 318 meters
Method: Visual; paper, pencil & talking clock

No apparent antihelion meteors were seen.

07:45-08:45 UT 50 deg F; dew pt 48 deg F; wind calm; foggy horizon; LM ~5.4; facing East 50 deg; total teff 1.0 hour.
ETA: two: +1; +3
Sporadics: two: +3; +4
Total meteors: four

08:45-09:45 UT 49 deg F; dew pt 48 deg F; wind calm; foggy horizon; LM ~5.3; facing East 50 deg 08:45-09:30; facing SE 50 deg 09:30-09:45; twilight in NE by 09:30; total teff 1.0 hour.
ETA's: eleven: -5; -3; -2; -1; +1(2); +2(3); +3(2)
Sporadics: two: +3(2)
Total meteors: thirteen

The mag -5 yellow ETA with 6 second train was at 09:19 UT, followed 10 seconds later by a mag -2 yellow ETA.  This was the best ETA hour I've ever seen from this latitude.  Previously in two different years I had seen 7 ETA's in one hour.  

Paul Martsching