(meteorobs) Perseids in Iowa

[Paul Martsching]

Last night and tonight were forecast to be mostly clear.  I went out this morning to see what could be seen under bright Moon light.  At 0600 UT I could see all the stars of the triangle and parallelogram of Lyra nearly overhead; also I could see all the stars that make up the Big Dipper.  At 0800 UT I could still see all the stars of Lyra even tho it was lower in the sky.  The pointer stars of the Big Dipper were directly under Polaris.  I could barely see the two bottom stars of the Bowl of the Big Dipper and the star where the Bowl and Handle connect.  A cold front had come thru and brought drier air.  There seemed to be minimal haze.  On the drive home, there is an area that has a flat horizon to the East.  The horizon haze extended upward only around one degree and was not a all dense.  This is extremely unusual here.  

The brightest meteor of the session was a - 6 blue Kappa Cygnid.  It did not flare.  The next brightest KCG was orange and had reached mag - 4 when it suddenly ended with a pop/flash of at least - 5.  I had never seen a KCG do this.  The brightest Perseid was - 5 yellow with train lasting 2 seconds in the bright Moon light.  I thought it was a good show for the night before peak and with a nearly full Moon in the sky.  

McFarland Park parking lot 4 miles NE of Ames, Story Co, Iowa.  Long: 93 deg 34 min W; Lat: 42 deg 05 min N; elevation 1,030 feet.  

I saw no obvious meteors coming overhead from the South: ANT's or SDA's.  Also I did not notice any ATR's.  I deployed a black umbrella to block the Moon light.  

12 August 2014 0600-0700 UT 62 deg F; dew pt 53 deg F; wind N 12 mph; clear; bright nearly full Moon; LM ~5.0; facing N 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hour.
KCG: two: - 3; +1
PER: nine: - 3(2); 0; +1(3); +2; +3(2)
Sporadics: two: 0; +2
Total meteors: thirteen

12 August 2014 0700-0800 UT 61 deg F; dew pt 53 deg F; wind N 12 mph; clear; bright Moon light; LM ~5.0; facing N 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hour.
KCG: two: - 5; - 2
PER: twelve: - 4; - 1; 0(3); +1(3); +2(2); +3(2)
Sporadics: five: +2(4); +3
Total meteors: nineteen

12 August 2014 0800-0900 UT 59 deg F; dew pt 53 deg F; wind NW 9 mph; clear; bright Moon light; LM ~5.0; facing N 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hour.
KCG: one: - 6
PER: seventeen: - 5; - 3; - 2; - 1; +1(4); +2(6); +3(3)
Sporadics: three: - 2; 0; +1
Total meteors: twenty-one

12 August 2014 0900-1000 UT 58 deg F; dew pt 53 deg F; wind N 10 mph; clear; bright Moon light; LM ~5.0; facing N 50 degrees; teff 1.0 hour.
KCG: none
PER: twenty-one: - 3(2); - 2; 0(3); +1(3); +2(8); +3(4)
Sporadics: four: - 1; +1; +2; +3
Total meteors: twenty-five