(meteorobs) Observation August 23/24 2014

[Pierre Martin]

I enjoyed a beautiful night of observing last week, with the company of several observers (Joe, Bruce, Remsy, Shane, Raymond and another guy who was out for a while with us).  The sky was crystal clear all night, with good transparency and seeing, although very humid with ground fog and dew.  I spent a good part of the night observing with my 12.5” dob, a variety of summertime objects, as well as comet C/2014 E2 (Jacques) in Cassiopeia which was a beautiful sight at low magnification.

I signed on for meteor observing just before 2am EDT, for a productive two hour session.  I saw 40 meteors in all, with decent sporadic rates and surprisingly active Theta Piscids (N. Delta Aquariids) - 8 seen.  There was a few leftover Perseids, Kappa Cygnids and S. Delta Aquariids as well.  The nicest meteor was a very slow moving mag +1 sporadic down in the east at 2:38am EDT. The night ended with temperature at 8C, a bit cool but comfortable.  The ground fog was present all night but did not appear to interfere with the sky clarity overhead.


August 23/24 2014, 05:50-08:10 UT (01:50-04:10 EDT)
Location: Bootland Farm (Stewartville), Ontario, Canada 
(Long: -76 deg 29'; Lat: 45 deg 23')

Observed showers:
Kappa Cygnids (KCG) - 19:12 (288) +60 
Anthelions (ANT) - 22:52 (343) -05
Theta Piscids (TPI) - 23:28 (352) +04
Delta Aquariids (SDA) - 00:02 (000) -08
August Gamma Cepheids (AGC) - 00:04 (001) +77
IMO #136 - 02:08 (032) +41
Perseids (PER) - 04:16 (064) +60


Period 1: 05:50-06:50 UT; clear; ground fog; temp 11C, F 1.00; LM 6.55; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr
TPI: four: +3(2); +4(2)
KCG: two: +4; +5
AGC: two: +2; +5
PER: two: +3; +4
ANT: one: +4
Sporadics: eight: +1(2); +3(2); +4(2); +5(2)
Total meteors: nineteen

(Break from 06:50-07:05 UT)

Period 2: 07:05-08:10 UT; clear; ground fog; temp 8C, F 1.00; LM 6.58; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.08 hr
TPI: four: +1; +4; +5(2)
PER: three: 0; +1; +4
SDA: two: +4; +5
#136: two: +4(2)
KCG: one: +3
AGC: one: +3
Sporadics: eight: 0; +3(2); +4; +5(4)
Total meteors: twenty-one


Clear skies,
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario