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(meteorobs) August 30, 2002 Meteor Observations from California



Since I am not able to watch until September 5, I decided to attempt an 
observing session this morning despite the 57 percent illuminated moon 
in Taurus. This would be my only opportunity to see the Alpha Aurigids 
this year. Despite the partly cloudy conditions at home, the sky was 
brilliantly clear from Deerhorn Valley, some 25 miles to the east. The 
Milky Way was easily visible right up to Perseus, 20 degrees from the 
moon. The Pleiades cluster was only 5 degrees north of the moon, yet all 
7 members were plainly visible when the moon was blocked by the 
clipboard. Activity was decent during the first hour but seemed to fade 
during the middle hour. There was a slight reprieve during the last 
hour. The first Alpha Aurigid was seen late in the second hour. Two more 
were seen during the last hour which is about what I expected to see on 
this date.  The northern apex source produced 3 meteors but none was 
seen from the south. One lone antihelion (Piscid) was seen along with a 
possible Pi Eridanid. The sporadic activity was bright tonight, not that 
surprising with the bright moonlight. It was an enjoyable session after 
a week off due to the full moon. I look forward to next week when the 
moon will not be a factor and the radiants in Perseus, Aries and Taurus 
begin heating up.

One last item, the temperature readings are not a misprint. The 
temperature actually ROSE 10 degrees when the dry, warm air from the 
east began blowing during the middle of the session.

August 30, 2002

0900-1000 UT  0.94  6.02  1 ANT  2 NPX  5 SP0  8 TOTAL

1000-1100 UT  0.96  6.11  1 AUR  1 ERI  1 NPX  2 SPO  5 TOTAL

1100-1200 UT  0.94  6.12  2 AUR  5 SPO  7 TOTAL

TOTALS:       2.86  6.04  1 ANT  3 AUR  1 ERI  3 NPX  12 SPO  20 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 tonight 
due to data entry and plotting. 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 north at 
an altitude of 60 degrees during the entire session. No breaks were 
taken. ANT = Antihelion radiant (Piscids), AUR = Alpha Aurigids, ERI = 
Pi Eridanids, NPX = Northern Apex and SPO = Sporadics (random activity).

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

Bortle Scale Estimate:  No applicable due to moonlight.

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity:   52 F (11 C)  31%
Ending         "         "         "       62 F (17 C)  16%

MAGNITUDES:

ANT:       0 (0) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)    AVE: +2.00
AUR:       0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (0) +6 (0)    AVE: +2.33
ERI:       0 (1) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)    AVE:  0.00
NPX:       0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (1) +5 (1) +6 (0)    AVE: +3.33
SPO:      -1 (1)  0 (1) +1 (4) +2 (1) +3 (3) +4 (2) +5 (0)    AVE: +1.83

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA





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