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(meteorobs) Re:May 5/6 Eta Aquarids normal



1997 May 5/6 Eta Aquarids were solidly normal ; no follow-through on the
previous night's good rate despite excellent sky conditions.  Two full hours
326-526 EDT (726-926 UT) had 5 and 16 Etas in sky LM7.3.  The period 426-538
EDT (826-938 UT) had 21 Eta Aquarids.  There was a 1/min burst just as the
official hour ended lasting for several minutes.  The full session 326-538
EDT was 2:12 hours time with 26 Eta Aquarids, 2 Alpha Scorpiids, 1 Mu
Virginid, and 14 sporadics.  Nine extra minutes going into twilight got only
one more Eta.

The first Eta seen was at 343 EDT with the radiant up about 10 degrees.
(The previous morning was almost identical:  first Eta at 342 EDT.)
Average magnitude was 2.96 for the 26 dark-sky Etas, rather faint.  There
were five +5m Etas and one +6m ; the brightest was a blue -2m with 2-second
train.  One of the +5's had a nice 1-second train, was surprised at how easy
it was to see.  The Eta radiant area seems to be quite small, less than 2
degrees across..

George's sky wasn't as dark as mine, plus being a little further north,
hence his Eta Aquarid rates were lower.  The Milky Way was looking very good
even in Lupus and Centaurus.  One of my favorite spots is the detached piece
between Aquila and Serpens Cauda ; must be hundreds of faint stars swarming
all around it.  M6, M7, and M8 were all resolved into stars, and M22 was
plainly visible.  I realize M8 is a diffuse nebula, but it is full of bright
stars also.  Seeing faint meteors against this background is a beautiful
experience.

Both mornings I have noticed several fast meteors coming from near Vega, but
I didn't plot them.  I was using Altair as my fabricated radiant (noting any
meteors seeming to come from there as FR, for a continuing effort to gather
data for random radiant studies).  But most of the meteors came from Vega
instead.  I haven't noticed anything coming from Capricornus.

The abnormal May cool spell is continuing.  I may get several more nights
for Etas.
Norman W. McLeod III
Visual Program Coordinator
American Meteor Society

Fort Myers, Florida
nmcleod@peganet.com