PM Sat. June 28 - AM Sun. June 29, 2014 - Meteor Observing

  After two weeks of moonlight, clouds, haze, fog, stormy weather, and so on, the sky finally cleared out enough over the weekend to do some meteor watching. I had five minor showers in mind that are visible in late June to early July.. For the evening the June Bootid and IMO #95 were well placed in the sky, and for the predawn hours there were three more, the Pi Piscid, c-Andromedid, and IMO #94 showers. Though none of these (usually) produced spectacular shows in the sky, I was eager to try to observe and plot some meteors and get my first report sent to the IMO. Here's how everything went:

  SESSION #1 - 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM (3:30 - 4:30 UT June 29)
  Effective Observing Time = About 55 minutes.
  Center of Gaze =17h +30 (Near Keystone of Hercules) high in the South.
  Cloud Cover Obscuration = about 5% (10% high clouds near the first half hour to 0% during the last half hour. Sky clarity improved dramatically during this session helped by increasing breeze.
  Tree/Other Obscuration = 10%
  Visual Limiting Magnitude = 5.07
  Temperature = 75°F. Dew Point = 69°F. Humidity = 82%. Wind = South at 12 mph. Pressure = 30.06".

  Other Notes - In lawn chair on the patio. I was comfortable in a T-shirt and Jeans. I also had on plenty of repellent. There were lots of distracting fireflies in the trees and zipping through the air and these were very distracting. Some Crickets could be heard. There was also a lot of neighborhood noise from Saturday evening parties including voices, cars revving, music, and so on. Low planes occasionally flew over. When I started this session there may have also been some residual smoke in the air because of fireworks being lit off all over the place earlier in the evening, and a professional fireworks show in Greenwood. During this session I heard a distant fireworks explosion every now and then. There was enough breeze to stir the leaves on the trees out there, especially during the last half hour. I think this also helped to clear some of the “murk” out of the air.

  0 Meteors Seen During This Session:

  I saw no meteors at all; not even Sporadics or Anthelions. Much less any sign of JBO or #95 meteors. This was pretty disappointing.

  3 Satellites Seen During This Session:

  Satellite #1 - Seen around 11:56 PM. This seemed to be a slowly tumbling object, 3.0 magnitude at the brightest. It went from the area near Pi and Rho Herculis to just west of Beta and Gamma Draconis (the twin stars of the “Head” of Draco). (I played this satellite path on Page 3 of the BRNO Atlas.)

  Satellite #2 - Seen around 12:04 AM. This one was very faint and steady. This one glided through Eastern Hercules. (I didn't bother to plot this one since it was steady and I’m more interested in looking for tumbling or flaring satellites.)

  Satellite #3 - 12:11 AM - 12:12 AM. This was a very interesting satellite. This passed from Southeast Hercules to Northeast Ophiuchus and though it was usually 2nd magnitude, it flared up twice to 1st magnitude or more (at least as bright as Deneb) as I watched it slowly move south and east. Then it faded into the Earth’s shadow in Ophiuchus. (I plotted this satellite path on Page 9 of the BRNO Atlas.)


  SESSION #2 - 12:30 AM - 1:30 AM (4:30 UT - 5:30 UT June 29)
  Effective Observing Time = About 57 minutes.
  Center of Gaze = 18h +30 (Eastern Hercules) high in the South.
  Cloud Cover Obscuration = about 5% (0% during the first half hour to about 10% high cloud cover during the last half hour, though the thickest high cloud cover stayed to the North).
  Tree/Other Obscuration  = about 10%
  Visual Limiting Magnitude = 5.02
  Temperature = 74°F. Dew Point = 69°F. Humidity = 85%. Wind = South at 12 mph. Pressure = 30.06".
  Other Notes - Same setup as before. Things quieted down a lot outside with fewer party noises heard around the neighborhood.

  0 Meteors Seen During This Session.

  0 Satellites Seen During This Session.


  SESSION #3 - 3:00 AM - 4:15 AM (7:00 - 8:15 UT June 29)
  Effective Observing Time = 67 minutes.
  Center of Gaze = 22:30h +45 (Lacerta) fairly high in the East.
  Cloud Cover Obscuration = about 10% (It ranged from 10% - 30% during the first half hour with high cirrocumulus bands but 10% or less during the second half hour. High thin cloud cover increased to the point where I had to call off observing during the final 15 minutes).
  Tree/Other Obscuration = 10% or less.
  Visual limiting magnitude = 4.86
  (4:00 AM Conditions) Temperature = 73°F. Dew Point = 67°F. Humidity = 81%. Wind = South at 8 mph (though there were gusts now and then that felt stronger than the ones I'd felt earlier in the evening). Pressure = 30.03".

  Other Notes - Same setup as before. It was very quiet now with just distant traffic heard. There was a soft Cricket chorus like before and fewer Fireflies. There was an even gustier breeze this time than there had been earlier in the night.

  By 4:00 AM there were some fairly thick high clouds starting to move in from the West, and though I wanted to stay out until dawn to get in a 4th hour of meteor observing tonight, conditions just didn’t let this happen. I stayed out as long as I could until the clouds had moved into the high Eastern part of the sky where I was watching, and then I had to call it quits for the night.

  2 Meteors Seen During This Session:

  Meteor #1 - 3:44 AM (7:44 UT June 29). Sporadic. 3.0 magnitude. Speed = 4 (Swift). No wake or train and no color. Went from the middle of Cepheus to just north of Iota Cephei. It had a very short path, and I had to count it as sporadic since it didn't correspond with any radiant that I knew of. It didn't even seem to be from a radiant where the JBO or IMO #95 showers would be. (I plotted the path for this meteor on Page 1 of the BRNO Atlas.)

  Meteor #2 - 3:54 AM (7:54 UT June 29). c-Andromedid (90% sure!) 3.0 magnitude. Speed 4-5 (Swift to Very Swift). No wake or train and no color. The more I looked at the path both out under the stars (and also on the chart where I plotted it) I was convinced that this was a CAN meteor! (I plotted the path of this meteor on Page 6 of the BRNO Atlas.)

  Several Satellites Seen During This Session: (1 Plotted)

  Satellite #1 - Spotted at 4:02 AM (8:02 UT June 29). This was by far the most interesting of several satellites seen during this session. I spotted it as a very bright object of at least -2.0 magnitude or brighter; much brighter than any star in the sky and possibly as bright as Jupiter (but less bright than I remember Venus to be). It was just Southwest of the Circlet of Pisces. I trained my 7x50 binoculars on it and it faded to 3.0 and 4.0 magnitude as it crossed the Circlet of Pisces. I then lost it. I kept looking toward Pegasus to see if it would flare up again, but it never did. (I plotted this satellite path on Page 6 of the BRNO Atlas.)

  I included my plots for the two meteors seen tonight; the Sporadic in Cepheus and the c-Andromedid seen in Pegasus. I'm actually a bit excited about the second one, since this is a fairly newly discovered minor shower and I don't think many of the meteors in this stream have been documented visually.