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(meteorobs) September 20, 2001 Meteor Observations From California

I had a short two and one half hour session before work this morning. I
was running late and had to stop at the nearest dark sky site.
Unfortunately truckers also use this site as a rest stop and the air
smelled of diesel all night. The noise from the nearby freeway was also
distracting. Despite the thick marine layer the western sky was hazy and
not at all impressive. I decided to face a little more east toward
better skies. The first hour was dreadfully slow. I almost wished I had
stayed in bed. At one point I went 36 minutes with any activity. I ended
up with 6 meteors, well short of what one would have expected. The
second hour and twenty minutes were much more entertaining producing 15
meteors. The September Perseids (Delta Aurigids) were totally absent.
There was one Kappa Aquarid and 6 antihelion meteors (Piscids). Both
apex radiant were off a bit tonight. The highlight of the session was
the last meteor seen. It was a -1 antihelion meteor that moved slowly
through Taurus. I have to work early the next 3 nights so the next
possibility for observing will be Monday morning. There is the forecast
for clouds moving up from Mexico over the weekend so we will have to see
whether I get another chance to observe before the moon becomes too much
of a nuisance. 

September 20, 2001


0815-0918 UT  1.00  6.20  2 ANT 0 KAQ 0 SPR 0 NPX 0 SPX  4 SPO   6 TOTAL

0918-1045 UT  1.33  6.29  4 ANT 1 KAQ 0 SPR 1 NPX 3 SPX  6 SPO  15 TOTAL

TOTALS:       2.33  6.25  6 ANT 1 KAQ 0 SPR 1 NPX 3 SPX 10 SPO  21 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. The last several
columns list the activity seen during each period. I was facing
southeast at an altitude of 70 degrees during the entire session. No
breaks were taken. ANT = Antihelion radiant (Piscids), KAQ = Kappa
Aquarids, NPX = Northern Apex, SPX = Southern Apex, and SPO = Sporadics
(random activity).

Location: Alpine Viewpoint 116 39'00" W  32 49'48" N  ELE = 1000 m

Bortle Scale Estimate:  Class 4: Rural / suburban transition.

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity:   63 F (17 C)  41%
Ending         "         "         "       63 F (17 C)  38%

MAGNITUDES:  

ANT:      -1 (2) +1 (1) +2 (0) +3 (0)  +4 (4)  +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +1.83
KAQ:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (0)  +4 (1)  +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +4.00
NPX:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (0)  +4 (1)  +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +4.00
SPX:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1)  +4 (1)  +5 (1) +6 (0)  AVE: +4.00
SPO:      -1 (1) +1 (0) +2 (3) +3 (3)  +4 (3)  +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +2.60


Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA
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