(meteorobs) Observation July 23/24 2014

[Pierre Martin]

I was able to get out last Thursday morning for a two hour+ session.  It was the first clear moonless night in a long time, so it was nice to be out again.  The sky was clear except for some cirrus to the east, but this did not interfere with my field of view.  A comfortable and windy night with no bugs.  The Moosecreek site has changed quite a bit since the last time I've been there last year.  The corn is much taller and the roadway coming in has quite a bit of grass in the middle, but the observing area is still very good.  I saw 45 meteors until dawn.  The "Psi Cassiopeiids (PCA)" were active, producing more meteors than any of the other sources.  The first hour of my watch alone had five, but they were all on the dim side.  It would be interesting to see if this is a new annual source of meteor activity.  The SDA's were also nicely active, with a few bright meteors.  Best was a mag -3 yellow/white SDA with a 1 second train.  I also saw a couple of bright and very swift meteors climb up from the east.  The ISS, a couple of very bright iridium flares, and the crescent moon with Venus ended a nice night.


July 23/24 2014, 05:30-08:00 UT (01:30-04:00 EDT)
Location: Moosecreek, Ontario, Canada 
(Long: -75.063 West; Lat: 45.269 North)

Observed showers:
Alpha Capricornids (CAP) - 20:04 (301) -12
Anthelions (ANT) - 20:40 (310) -17
Sigma Capricornids (SCA) - 21:32 (323) -02
Delta Aquariids (SDA) - 22:18 (334) -18
Piscids Austrinids (PAU) - 22:20 (335) -34
July Pegasids (JPE) - 23:40 (355) +13
Perseids (PER) - 00:56 (014) +52
Pi Piscids (PPS) - 01:52 (028) +33


Period 1: 05:30-06:39 UT; clear; temp 15C, F 1.00; LM 6.20; facing S60 deg; teff 1.00 hr (9 min dead time)
PCA: five: +4(4); +5
SDA: two: -3; -1
ANT: two: +3; +4
CAP: one: 0
SCA: one: +4
JPE: one: +5
PER: one: +3
PPI: one: +4
Sporadics: five: 0; +1; +2; +3(2)
Total meteors: nineteen

Period 2: 06:39-07:39 UT; clear; temp 14C, F 1.00; LM 6.28; facing S50 deg; teff 1.00 hr
SDA: four: 0; +2; +3; +4
PCA: three: +2; +4; +5
ANT: three: +3(2); +4
CAP: one: +3
SCA: one: 0
Sporadics: nine: -1; +1(2); +2; +4(4); +5
Total meteors: twenty-one

Period 3: 07:39-08:00 UT; clear; temp 13C, F 1.00; LM 6.16; facing S60 deg; teff 0.35 hr.
PER: two: +5(2)
SDA: one: +2
Sporadics: two: +4(2)
Total meteors: five


Clear skies,
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario