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(meteorobs) June 26, 2003 Meteor Observations from California

After weeks of thick clouds in our area we finally had some decent skies
this week. I made it out for a short session on Thursday morning before
heading to work. In two and one half hours of viewing I managed to count 21
meteors. It was another enjoyable session as the activity was fairly
constant. Again, like in my previous session, there was an abnormal number
of bright meteors which brought the average sporadic magnitude up to +1.77.
The normal for my sporadic activity is near +3.00. The antihelion radiant
(Sagittarids) were quite active producing good activity. The apex source was
quiet, producing only one meteor. I did manage to plot one possible member
of the Theta Ophiuchids. The highlight of the session was a -1 sporadic that
shot overhead from the north. Another meteor worth mentioning was a slow,
pearly white, first magnitude sporadic that occurred right by Polaris while
I was peeking over into the northern sky. For some reason this meteor
appeared pure white, more so than most meteors. There was no chance it was a
June Bootid as the angle was too far from that radiant.

June 26, 2003

0832-0937 UT   1.00   6.85   3  ANT  1  TOP  0  NPX   7  SPO  11 TOTAL

0937-1100 UT   1.32   6.85   2  ANT   0 TOP  1  NPX   7  SPO  10  TOTAL

TOTALS:           2.32   6.85   5  ANT   1 TOP  1  NPX  14 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. 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 50 degrees during the entire session. No breaks were taken. ANT
= Antihelions (Sagittarids), TOP =  Theta Ophiuchids, 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: Class 3  (Rural Sky)

Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 55 F (13 C) 32%
Ending         "         "        "                        54 F (12 C) 34%

MAGNITUDES:

ANT:   0 (0) +1 (1) +2 (0) +3 (1) +4 (2) +5 (0) +6 (1)         AVE: +3.60
TOP:   0 (1) +1 (0) +2 (0) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)          AVE: +0.00
NPX:  0  (0) +1 (0) +2 (1) +3 (0) +4 (0) +5 (0) +6 (0)          AVE: +2.00
SPO:  -1 (1)   0 (2) +1 (3) +2 (5) +3 (0) +4 (2) +5 (2)          AVE: +1.77

Bob Lunsford
San Diego, CA USA


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