[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

(meteorobs) August 16, 2002 Meteor Observations from California



I was just too tired to venture out on the 15th so I saved all my energy 
for this morning. Conditions were near perfect as fog blocked a great 
deal of the city lights providing very dark conditions. Activity was 
remarkably steady throughout the entire session. The Perseids provided 
more than half of all the activity seen. The minor showers, and even the 
sporadics were very quiet tonight. There were no real spectacular 
meteors seen tonight. The brightest was a nice, yellow -2 that shot 
overhead from the north. It was not a Perseid as it missed the Perseid 
radiant by at least 10 degrees from a fairly close distance. The fog 
kept getting closer and closer throughout the night. Just as I stopped 
counting at 5am the sky became overcast. Great timing!

August 16, 2002

0800-0900 UT  0.92  6.87   1 KCG 1 NDA 1 NIA 4 PER 4 SPO  12 TOTAL
0900-1000 UT  0.93  6.80   1 SDA 5 PER 1 SPX 5 SPO        12 TOTAL
1000-1100 UT  0.94  6.67  10 PER 1 NPX 2 SPX 0 SPO        13 TOTAL
1100-1200 UT  0.94  6.32   1 KCG 7 PER 3 SPO              11 TOTAL

TOTALS:       3.73  6.66   2 KCG 1 NDA 1 NIA 26 PER 1 SDA
                            1 NPX 2 SPX 14 SPO             48 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 east at
an altitude of 60 degrees during the entire session. No breaks were
taken. CAP = Alpha Capricornids, KCG = Kappa Cygnids, NDA = Northern
Delta Aquarids, NIA = North Iota Aquarids, PER = Perseids, SDA = 
Southern Delta Aquarids, NPX = Northern Apex, SPX = Southern Apex, and 
SPO = Sporadics (random activity).

Location: Deerhorn Valley 116 45' 21" W  32 41' 21" N  ELE = 667 m

Bortle Scale Estimate:  Class 3: Rural Sky

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity:   56 F (13 C)  53%
Ending         "         "         "       48 F (09 C)  80%

MAGNITUDES:

KCG:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +3.00
NDA:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +3.00
NIA:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +2.00
PER:       0 (4) +1 (4) +2 (6) +3 (5) +4 (4) +5 (3) +6 (0)  AVE: +2.38
SDA:       0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +1.00
NPX:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +2.00
SPX:       0 (0) +1 (2) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)  AVE: +1.00
SPO:      -2 (1) +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (6) +4 (3) +5 (1) +6 (0)  AVE: +2.77

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA




The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
To stop getting all email from the 'meteorobs' lists, use our Webform:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html