(meteorobs) Perseids this morning in Iowa

[Paul Martsching]

I went out for four hours this morning 01:30 - 04:30 am CDST at McFarland Park 4 miles NE of Ames, Iowa, with the following results.  

0530 - 0630 UT 11 Aug 2015 64 deg; dew pt 60 deg; wind NW 3 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing North 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour.
Perseids: ten: - 2; - 1(2); 0(2); +1; +2(2); +3; +4
Beta Perseid: one: +3
Sporadics: two: +3(2)
Total meteors: thirteen

0630 - 0730 UT 11 Aug 2015 63 deg; dew pt 60 deg; wind NW 6 mph; clear; LM 5.8; facing North 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour.
Delta Aquarids: - 4; +3
Eridanid: one: 0
Perseids: six: - 3; -2; +1; +2; +3
Sporadics: five: +2; +3(3); +4
Total meteors: twelve

0730 - 0830 UT  11 Aug 2015 63 deg; dew pt 59 deg; wind NW 6 mph; clear; LM 5.7; facing North 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour.
A Capricornid: one: 0
Kappa Cygnid: one: +2
Perseids: eighteen: - 4(2); - 3; 0(2); +1(3); +2(3); +3(5); +4(2)
Sporadics: six: 0; +2; +3(4)
Total meteors: twenty-six

0830 - 0930 UT 11 Aug 2015 62 deg; dew pt 59 deg; wind NW 8 mph; average LM 5.6; crescent Moon in East; facing North 50 deg; teff 1.0 hour.
Eridanid: one: - 2
Kappa Cygnid: one: +1
Perseids: twelve: - 3; - 1; +1; +2(4); +3(4); +4
Sporadics: four: +1; +3; +4(2)
Total meteors: eighteen

There were quite a few bright Perseids.  The second hour was slow.  From time to time during the entire session there were long lulls with no Perseids seen.   The longest duration train was 4 seconds from one of the - 4 Perseids.  The - 4 SDA came overhead from the South and was much too fast to be an Antihelion or Capricornid.  It had a very narrow wake and no train.  

It appears from other reports that I am missing a lot of faint Perseids because of not very good limiting magnitude.  At my age I can't "see" the sky better than about 6.2 no matter how good conditions really are, so while going to a darker site would help, I still would not see as many faint meteors as some other people can.  In spite of this, I will continue to go out and observe many of the more active showers as the weather permits.  

The weather forecast is very good for the next several nights.  

Paul Martsching in Iowa