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(meteorobs) Perseid Peak Observations Aug 11/12 George Zay
Perseid Peak Aug 11/12 results from George Zay, Descanso, Calif.
For my 1997 Perseid campaign, I had either observed or was out there to
observe for 13 consecutive nights....but after the last 4 previous nights of
frustration due to clouds and fog I was beginning to feel disheartened...then
last night I was able to get a good night of observing under ideal conditions
once again. Observing from my Descanso Observatory in Southern California
with Sky Limiting magnitudes near 6.0 all night and not a cloud in sight, I
was able to observe for 5.9 continuous hours. I began my observations at 5h47
UT(22h47 PDT). After that first hour, I had a total of 9 Perseids. My initial
feeling that this was going to be a lackluster night...especially after the
passing of the second hour from 6h49 to 7h52 UT (23h49-midnight:52 PDT) when
I logged only 20 perseids. Then the next hour came in like a tidal
wave...though Robert Lunsford who was observing with me facing in an entirely
different direction had already began to record a very active perseid night.
With my third hour I recorded 69 Perseids...plus 10 sporadics. The next hour
continued with the high rates...ending with 75 Perseids and 15 sporadics. I
normally have a relatively low perception rate compared to most experienced
and younger observers...for me to have 75 Perseids in one hour is saying
something significant is going on....this was between 8h59 to 10h02 UT. In
all, I recorded a total of 361 meteors with 302 of them being Perseids. The
brightest were a pair of -8 Perseids plus a -7 Perseid, and three -4
Perseids. The period between 8h00-9h00UT seemed to have been noticeably
active compared to the rest of the night...this was when I saw most of my
relatively brighter meteors. I had operated two cameras...I might have caught
part of a -8 Perseid in the 28 mm camera...I'm feel confident that I might
have caught a -4 Perseid in my 50 mm camera. The first -8 blew my socks
off...there was no expectation for it to occur..dot it was a brilliant white
that left a visible persistent train that lasted for 3 minutes. Almost
immediately I could see it snake in an S shape. Lunsford had the privilege to
see most of it thru his binoculars. My gut feeling tells me that when all the
analysis is done, they will come to the conclusion that indeed the "New Peak"
may have occurred again to some extent for the 1997 display. For convenience
I recorded only Perseids and kappa Cygnids in their respective showers...all
others despite the other minor shower activity going on, I considered them as
sporadics. It got too hectic to spend the time segregating them with the
various aquarid radiants directly behind me. My shower totals and hourly
breakdown is summed up below:...George Zay
Perseids = 302
kappa Cygnids = 5
Sporadics = 57
total = 361
Hourly breakdowns:
5h47-6h49= 9 PER, 2 KCG, 2 Sporadics
Teff = 1.0 hours
6h49-7h52= 20 PER, 0 KCG, 6 Sporadics
TEff = 1.0 hours
7h52-8h59= 69 PER, 1 KCG, 9 Sporadics
Teff = 1.0 hours
8h59-10h02= 75 PER, 2 KCG, 13 Sporadics
Teff = 1.0 hours
10h02-11h04= 66 PER, 0 KCG, 15 Sporadics
Teff = 1.0 hours
11h04-12h00= 64 PER, 1 KCG, 7 Sporadics
Teff = 0.90 hours