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(meteorobs) Sept 5/6 Meteor Observations From California
I watched under a gloriously dark sky this morning for 3 hours. There
was a thick blanket of fog shrouding San Diego. The Milky Way could be
followed to within 10 degrees of the western horizon which is rare for
here. I had totally forgotten about the moon until I saw a glow near the
top of a distant hill in the northeast. The thin crescent moon was not
nearly as much a bother as last week's moonlight.
I counted 31 meteors during the 3 hour session. To my surprise the Alpha
Aurigids were still active producing 2 swift meteors during the morning.
The September Perseids were disappointingly scarce but the one member I
did manage to see was a nice blue -1 heading south. Two slow, faint
Piscids were seen during the second hour.
As for the Alpha Triangulids 2 possible members were plotted. They
intersected precisely at Alpha Trianguli.
The excitement of the night was a continuation of the activity in
Taurus.
5 meteors provided a sharp radiant at 76 (5:04) +19 very close to the
5th magnitude star 104 Tauri. This produces a radiant drift of 7 degrees
east and 2 degrees south since September 1. This is a little on the high
side for 5 days but acceptable due to the inaccuracies of plotting. It
will be interesting to see if this activity continues through the week
as
I plan to be out through Thursday Sept. 8/9
September 5/6 1999
0930-1030 UT 0.91 6.75 1 AUR 0 SPI 0 SPR 12 SPO 13 TOTAL
1030-1130 UT 0.93 6.70 1 AUR 2 SPI 1 SPR 5 SPO 9 TOTAL
1130-1230 UT 0.94 6.42 0 AUR 0 SPI 0 SPR 9 SPO 9 TOTAL
TOTALS: 2.78 6.62 2 AUR 2 SPI 1 SPR 26 SPO 31 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 and preferably 3 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 60 degrees during the entire
session.
No breaks were taken. AUR = Alpha Aurigids, SPI = Piscids, SPR Sept.
Perseids, and SPO = Sporadic (random activity). Moonrise occurred at
11:20
U.T. (delayed due to hill in northeast).
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 46 F (8 C) 58%
Ending " " " 47 F (8 C) 57%
MAGNITUDES:
AUR: +3 (1) +4 (1) AVERAGE: +3.50
SPI: +4 (2) AVERAGE: +4.00
SPR: -1 (1) AVERAGE: -1.00
SPO: 0 (1) +1 (3) +2 (5) +3 (12) +4 (4) +5 (1) AVERAGE: +2.69
Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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