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Re: (meteorobs) Some Perseids above annual in 2003?
> Something is mixed up, but not a lot to mistake about this line:
>
> Night 12/13 started with cirrus bands over greater parts of the country.
This cirrusband moved very slowly from west to
> east. After moonset conditions improved considerably. Eastern stations
still were hampered by cirrus. The night started with
> a couple of fine fireballs. Activity was good around midnight. During the
last hour activity dropped markedly.
Daniel,
I think this IS a mistake and you're making too much of these short summary
lines. I was one of the observers at that time, observing from
Biddinghuizen, so I have first-hand knowledge of this night. There was
cirrus moving over the country and this affected most notably some of the
eastern observing stations. Those in the center (like we at Biddinghuizen)
and the west got a clear night, except for the very first two hours which
had cirrus remnants which together with the moon still above the horizon at
that moment, made serious observing difficult, although we did see meteors.
We were in the field at that moment, waiting for conditions to improve
(which they did).
However, I cannot remember anything really unusual early in the night, and
none of the elaborate station reports on that night in our Journal Radiant
actually suggests so. It is interesting to note that those 'fireballs' early
in the night are only mentioned in this very short internet summary - not in
the elaborate station reports. There were a few nice bright Perseids early
in the night but then, what else can you expect given that these hours were
very close to the annual maximum. That is not unusual. There was NOT a
marked number of fireballs as far as I remember, or the station reports
suggest. So I suspect that someone translated the occurrence of some nice
bright Perseids in 'fireballs' in this short English summary, and this now
wrongly creates the impression that the early European hours of 12/13 August
1997 saw something unusual, connected with a trail passage as you seem to
suggest. In my opinion, it did not. I think that the word 'fireballs' in
this short summary line from internet is wrong and unfortunate as it now
creates a wrong impression.
Below is the full text of the english report on that night I sent around
back then. In fact you might notice that I comment on the LACK of bright
meteors compared to the previous night!
Sorry to all that I 'jump' on this discussion, but I want to prevent that a
few badly written lines on internet create a new meteorical urban myth about
unusual fireball activity in the early hours of 12/13 August 1997.
- Marco
August 12/13, 1997
Well, this is a very good campaign indeed! Again, we have been able to
observe last night, for the 10th night in direct succesion! Such is
unprecedented in the variable climate of our country at the North sea. Below
my data.
At first, it seemed that we would lose this night. Two weak fronts with
cirrus very slowly passed over our country. When we arrived at
Biddinghuizen, the sky still was filled with cirrus. We saw many meteors,
but serious observing just was not possible the first two hours. But around
22:55 UT (0:55 am local time) the cirrus dissolved and observations were
possible. The sky quality was moderate (Lm started at +6.2-6.3 and then got
up to about +6.6) and the lower southern part of the sky kept cirrus, but
the north and the zenith was clear allowing a full cloudless view.
Many meteors were seen, but the number of bright ones was considered rather
disappointing by us. We saw only one true fireball, and one should suspect
more of a maximum night. Indeed, the second half of the previous night saw
more fireball activity.
The fireball was a beautifull blueish -5 Perseid in Camelopardalis at
0:07:10 UT, featuring 30 seconds of persisting train. Besides this one, I
observed only two other negative Perseids this night...!
We had a guest observer this night: Erwin van Ballegoij. He is a regular
meteor observer and probably will join our team at Biddinghuizen permanently
in future.
Well, we have a very satisfied feeling of this Perseid campaign, so I should
not grumble about last night's lack of fireballs. I observed nearly 2000
meteors last week!
For me, the campaign is over now. I would like to go on (and weather would
probably permit!), but after today I have other obligations. So, next the
Aurigids two weeks from now....
-Marco
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