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(meteorobs) Meteors, butterflies and wildflowers

Last autumn my wife and I purchased a small piece of land in
southern Ohio, elbowed in the ribs by a variety of factors, the
last of which was the pristine darkness upon which the night sky
floats. While we have managed to enjoy a parade of nature's
splendors there, - spring wildflowers, morel mushrooms, the
prairies and butterflies, canoeing, warblers - timing our visits
with clear skies has proven impossible, until this past
weekend...........

......A forecast for clear skies, coupled with a days-old moon had
Sheri and me makin' for the hills. Our plan was to watch meteors at
night, and visit a couple prairies which the area is so well known
for. We managed most of this, and found ourselves starin' down both
barrels of nature's wonders.

A harbinger of glories to come awaited us at the turn on to the
road leading to the Side of the Hill. There, in a small patch of
red clover, a dozen or more Swallowtails gathered in a nectaring
frenzy. It was a pretty remarkable sight, this cluster of faerie-
like creatures.

And so, on Friday we set up camp and spent the evening relaxing by
the fire. After a nap of a couple hours, we rose at 12:30 to
stargaze, hoping for meteors. We weren't flooded with 'em, but we
weren't disappointed. I managed to stay awake till 4:30, starin' up
into the clouds of Milky Way, ooh-ing and ah-ing each of the 32
meteors I saw. None was spectacular, but one did display a
persistent train which lasted about 3 seconds after the meteor
burned out.

I suspect our limiting magnitude was not 210. It only seemed that
way, the Milky Way flowing across the heavens like smoke from the
smoke stack of the great locomotive towing the stars across the
sky. But, as some prefer numbers to poetry, I'll give ya a few
........

Limiting Magnitude.....musta been +6.5 to +7.0, huh?

Observing from Brush Creek Township in Adams County, Ohio. It is
about 100 miles south of Columbus and North Lat 40 (in other words,
I haven't gotten 'round to lookin' up the Lat).

1 Perseid was seen while we were getting comfy. It was yellow,
magnitude 0.0                                 
                                   (all   
        Beginning                 streams)
Date    Time (UT) Teff(Hrs)   F   Aquarids Caps UPegs Perseids Spo
7/26/98 5:45       0.995    1.33     3           0       0          0 
        1 
            6:45        0.992    1.33     2           0       1       
   2         1
            7:45        1.063    1.33     4           2       0       
   4         5
            8:50        0.742    1.33     2           0       1       
   1         2

          Totals:       3.792             11           2       2      
    7         9
                                                          
Magnitude Distributions  0   +1    +2   +3   +4  +5  +6   Avg.
                     Aquarids  1    1     2      2    1     3   1   3.
27
                          Caps  1    1     -    -    -   -   -        
   0.50
                        UPegs  -    -      2    -    -   -   -        
  2.00
                     Perseids  3    2     2    -       1   -   -      
1.25
                   Sporadics  -    3     -        1    4   -      1  
3.11

A nice sip of the night sky after such a long time away from that
well. But there were other wells to draw water from, and after an
exhausting day of hiking prairies and photo-ing wildflowers and
butterflies, my lights were flickering. I was unable to free myself
of the bonds of sleep for a second night of meteors - sleeping
outdoors seems a much deeper sleep.

We cancelled an arts and crafts gig for our weekend in nature, and
have another scheduled for the up-coming weekend, so I'm not
certain I'll be able to get back out for meteors.

**(Non meteor-related info from here, but it is all wonderful 
nature)**

For those interested, the prairies were magnificent, and the
butterflies simply astounding. Never have I been surrounded by such
an abundance of faerie-like creatures. A visit to the area in July
and/or August gives one an opportunity to enjoy a variety of
natural wonders, including the Milky Way and meteors.

This is a partial list of plant species we encountered.

Tall Meadow-rue, Indian Hemp, Whorled Milkweed, Green Milkweed,
Narrow-leaved Mt. Mint, Ironweed, Partridge Pea, Butterfly Weed,
Kalm's St. Johnswort, Seedbox, a variety of Goldenrods, Prairie-
dock, Ox-eye, Green-headed Coneflower, Prairie Coneflower, Thin-
leaved Coneflower, Hairy Sunflower, Wingstem, Tall Coreopsis, Wild
Lettuce, Nodding Onion, Hoary Tick-trefoil, Rose-pink, Joe-pye
weed, Blazing Star, Hyssop Skullcap, Self Heal, Wild Bergamot,
Spiked Lobelia, Maryland Figwort, Wild Petunia and stuff I've
forgotten or stuff we could identify.

Butterflies?

Tiger Swallowtail, Spicebush Swallowtail, Pipevine Swallowtail,
Zebra Swallowtail, Giant Swallowtail, Eastern Black Swallowtail,
Great spangled Fritillary, Red-spotted Purple, Comma, Silver-
spotted Skipper, Eastern-tailed Blue, Monarch, Large Wood Nymph,
Carolina Satyr, Pearly Eye, Tawny Emperor, Silvery Crescentspot,
Common Sootywing, Northern Broken Dash Skipper...........



____
Even when it was, it wasn't, was it?

Gregg M. Pasterick
Special Contributor at the Prodigy Gardens (somebody has to pull 
weeds)
Kilbourne, Ohio

http://pages.prodigy.com/daddy
http://pages.prodigy.com/Mr.Natural

e-mail: YSZX29E@prodigy.com 
or
          ZQZK15A@prodigy.com
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