(meteorobs) July 24/25 2016 observation from North Florida - pre-midnight, kinda slow...

[Paul Jones]

Greeting all,
     I got out on Butler Beach last night to beat the moonrise and check
out how the meteor rates were in the early evening timeframe.
 Predictably, they were somewhat slow, but I still managed 17 total meteors
in two hours from 10:00 p.m. to midnight under pretty nice skies.

     When I got there a bit before 10:00 p..m., there was a pretty stiff
south wind kicking up and scattering the bone dry beach sand around pretty
much everywhere in true sandblasting style...;o).    I noticed a few folks
walking around the beach with flashlights, probably looking for sea turtles
trying to nest.

     I was thinking also that maybe I should have been counting airplanes,
because they were coming at a major shower maximum rate...;o).  I pretty
much had no less than six or seven of them in the sky all at once
for pretty much the entire two hours!  A few artificial satellites weaved
in and out around the airplanes as well...;o).

Here's the (meteor) results:

Observed for radiants:

CAP - alpha Capricornids
JPE - July Pegasids
ANT - Anthelions
PER - Perseids
SDA: South delta Aquariids
PAU - Piscids Austrinids
GDR - July gamma Draconids
BPE - beta Perseids


July 24/25 2016, observer: Paul Jones, Location: Butler Beach, Florida
(about three miles south of St. Augustine, Beach, Florida), Lat: 29.79 N,
Long: 81.26 W., LM: 6.5, 20% cloud interference, Facing: east

2200 - 2300 EDT (0200 - 0300 UT), Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks
1 CAP: +4
1 ANT: +3
 5 SPO: +3(2). +4(2), +5
7 total meteors

2 of the 7 meteors (the CAP and the ANT) left trains. No meteor colors were
seen.


2300 - 0000 EDT (0300 - 0400 UT), Teff: 1.0 hour, No Breaks, 20% cloud
interference
2 SDA: +2, +3
1 CAP: 0
1 ANT: +3
6 SPO: +3(3). +4(2), +5
10 total meteors

3 of the 10 meteors left trains, the 0 magnitude CAP and both the SDAs left
glowing trains behind them.  No meteor colors were seen.

      A few slow, fast cumulus clouds began to come in off the south winds,
getting more frequent in the second hour.  And then the moon rose over the
ocean a bit before midnight.  The CAP in the second hour was long and
lovely, with a couple of bursts along its almost 30 degree path and left a
nice, puffy train behind it.  A classic CAP!  Both the SDAs were
 quite pretty also.  The waning gibbous moon rising over the ocean painted
deep golden yellow was a very pretty sight as well!

      Looking ahead, the rest of the week looks good in the weather
department here in North Florida as the Bermuda High is still quite
dominant.  I think I'll start my watches later in the night though, as
there just isn't much going on that first full dark hour of the night.  A
later rising moon each night will help in that regard as well.

More later, Paul J in North Florida
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