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(meteorobs) Saw a clustering of Perseids!!!!!
I was out meteor observing in Casselman (Ontario) earlier in the
August 10 evening, and I just witnessed one of the most unusual
thing...
At exactly 4:20:33 UT just east of Cassiopeia, I witnessed for the
first time what seemed to me like a true clustering of Perseid
meteors. It was a flight of at least 4 Perseids all travelling
tightly together in parallel paths. They were **perfectly
simultaneous**, and the "group" was all contained within 4 degrees.
They travelled the same lenght (7 or 8 degrees long), and all lasted
only a fraction of a second. Not even the great 1999 Leonid meteor
storm I witnessed in Europe had anything quite like this.
My first thought was... "this looks almost like the 1997 Leonids
cluster that was caught on intensified video" (although I doubt there
were that many). The grouping had twin 2nd magnitude meteors with 0.5
sec trains, a third magnitude and another fainter one.
The bright Quarter moon was already high up in the east, so I have no
idea if more fainter meteors were lost from the glare. Several
observers who happened to look in the right direction also witnessed
this, and reported seeing at least 2 or 3 meteors flying together. It
was really a cool sight!!!
By the way, Perseids activity is picking up nicely already on August
10/11. I was surprised by the Milky Way still plainly visible well
after moonrise. I observed formally for over an hour before moonrise,
and highlights included a pair of nice fireballs (one was a 35
degrees long magnitude -5 Perseid with a term flash and the other was
a magnitude -3 slow moving Kappa Cygnid).
Cathy, I'll try and decode my tape asap and post the data. Must
sleep... Perseid peak for eastern Ontario is looking favorable!!!
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
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