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(meteorobs) July 21/22 Observations From California
For the fourth morning in a row I observed from the western foothills of
the Laguna Mountains for 3 hours. This was the coolest morning of the 4
with a starting temperature of 40F. The humidity was low this morning
and the transparency was excellent. Stars of 3rd and 4th magnitude could
be easily seen low near the horizon. The atmospheric extinction could
not have been more than a few tenths of a magnitude at most. Activity
once again started out slowly but reached a satisfying pace during the
second and third hours.
This was an odd night with many shower meteors being seen a long way
from home. The extreme case was a Perseid meteor seen in Grus, more than
90 degrees away from the radiant.
I also had several bright sporadics this morning creating a strange
magnitude profile, much unlike the other 3 nights.
Lastly, the highlight of the session was a pair of South Delta Aquarids
traveling side by side through Andromeda. They were only 4th magnitude
but the sight of both of them simultaneously some 4 degrees apart was
most interesting and enjoyable!
I also neglected to mention eariler that Orion is back in the sky and it
was good to see the mighty hunter again! Betelgeuse appeared very
bright, almost the equal of Rigel.
July 20/21 1999
UNIVERSAL
TIME
0845-0945 0.97 6.69 0 ACG 1 CAP 1 PAU 1 PER 0 SDA 3 SPO 6 TOTAL
0945-1045 0.91 6.65 1 ACG 1 CAP 1 PAU 1 PER 3 SDA 6 SPO 13 TOTAL
1045-1145 0.91 6.58 0 ACG 0 CAO 0 PAU 3 PER 2 SDA 9 SPO 14 TOTAL
TOTALS: 2.79 6.65 1 ACG 2 CAP 2 PAU 5 PER 5 SDA 18 SPO 33 TOTAL
The first column gives the period watched stated in Universal Time (UT)
which is PDT + 7 hours. The second column gives the percent of that
particular hour actually spent observing the sky. Time was lost for
plotting and data entry tonight. The third column gives the average
limiting magnitude estimated during each period with a minimum of 4
estimates using at least 2 different sky areas close to my center of
view. The last several columns list the activity seen during each
period.
I was facing east at an altitude of 70 degrees all night. No breaks were
taken during this session. ACG = Alpha Cygnids, CAP = Alpha
Capricornids, PAU = Pisces Austrinids, PER = Perseids, SDA = South Delta
Aquarids, and SPO = Sporadic (random activity).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 40 F (4 C) 43%
Ending " " " 42 F (6 C) 34%
MAGNITUDES:
ACG: +4 (1) AVERAGE: +4.00
CAP: -2 (1) 0 (1) AVERAGE: -1.00
PAU: +4 (1) AVERAGE: +4.00
PER: -1 (1) +1 (2) +3 (2) AVERAGE: +1.40
SDA: +3 (1) +4 (4) AVERAGE: +3.80
SPO: 0 (2) +1 (6) +2 (3) +3 (4) +5 (3) AVERAGE: +2.17
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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