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(meteorobs) Cloudy Perseids



I made several observing attempts during the week; all ended with no formal counts made due to variable (to put it kindly) sky conditions. I decided that there was no sense in reporting data when LM, obstruction and field center changed constantly. However, that does not mean that I didn't see a lot of meteors. While certainly my lowest raw rates for the Perseids other than during bright moonlight, August 12/13 was a lot of fun.

I made the mistake of committing to an observing destination and promising to meet other people there. Otherwise, I would have chased clear sky and found it in the eastern Columbia River Gorge. Instead, I headed out to Prineville in Central Oregon, home of Gary and Carolyn Strong and their Juniper Sky Ranch.

Skies looked hopeful early on but never cleared. So, we watched Perseids through the clouds. 

No hope of doing a formal count, as Limiting Magnitude (only ~6.0-6.5 even in the clear spots) and percentage of sky obscured (10 - 100 in 5 minutes) varied constantly, along with the center of my viewing field. 
Hourly breakdowns:
                                                        9:40 - 10:40pm: 20 PER, 2 sporadics
10:40 - 11:40pm: 6 PER, 6 sporadics, 1 Alpha Capricornid
11:40pm - 12:40am: 27 PER, 7 sporadics, 2 Alpha Cap
(all times PDT = UT - 7h)

The low rates the second hour ironically coincided with somewhat better skies (as evidenced by the sporadic count).  It cleared off very nicely just after 2am and I started a count which survived for roughly 5 minutes before it got cloudy again. I saw 3 (well, 4) of the most interesting meteors as the clouds closed in: -5 and -4 PER fireballs within a few seconds, and then simultaneous parallel Perseids of about 3rd magnitude, separated by a degree or two. Lightning had been flashing off in the distance, and rain started at 3 am after I had given up on meteors and switched to Jupiter and Saturn.          

--
Wes Stone
Cloudytown, USA (but it's clear NOW...)                                                             

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