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Re: (meteorobs) August 21 Observations



Bob,

I'm amazed that the meteor below lasted only 4 seconds!  That wasn't a slow
one; 35 deg/sec is ripping along.  The duration ought to be at least
doubled.  The 140-deg Leonid I saw in 1974 lasted 8 sec and all other
super-long meteors I've seen are in that range.  This gives a clue as to why
you don't see long-lasting meteors.

I was out this morming (Aug 21/22), first clear night in a while.  Can
confirm rates are rather slow, total rates 226-426AM hours 13 and 11 in sky
7.0,7.2.  Perseids only 2/hr.  Last hour mostly cloudy.  Final extra half
hour cleared, got a few more including one Kappa Cyg.  Dawn has backed off
to nearly 6AM local.  Nothing brighter than 0m.  This is intended to be a
descriptive preliminary report only.

Tonight is expected to be clear, then a wipeout coming for the weekend.  Am
interested to see everyone else is seeing KCG rates similar to mine for a
change.  I have never understood where the 4-8/hr from observers of all
levels of experience is coming from so often in the past, particularly in
Europe..  The radiant is still plenty high in the sky from here so that
doesn't explain why I'm not seeing them.

Norman


>-- [ From: Robert Lunsford * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] --
>
>I spent an enjoyable 4 hours under the stars at George's observatory.
>The skyglow the bad to the west so I decided to face eastward toward
>the darkest part of the sky. I counted a total of 69 meteors with the
>brightest meteors only being zero magnitude. The highlight of the night
>occurred at 9:46 UT when a slow moving meteor appeared near the shield
>of Orion (low in the east), shot upward through Taurus, Aries, Pegasus,
>and back down again through Delphinus and Aquila. I estimated the total
>length to be 140 degrees with it peaking at zero magnitude. The
>duration was 4 full seconds. It was difficult not to shout out loud as
>the meteor darted through the heavens. I know I said WOW to myself at
>least 4 times before the show was over.  
>
>