The night of August 18/19 was a gentle one. Sky conditions were not optimal (especially near the horizon) but certainly could have been worse. Limiting magnitudes near +6.3 typically, not the best for this favourable location. The Dutch Meteor Society operated a photographic network with three stations (Biddinghuizen, Varsseveld and Bosschenhoofd). We suspect several multistation meteors.
Below my VISUAL RESULTS, from observations at our dark site at Biddinghuizen (52 deg. 29' 16" N, 5 deg. 41' 19" E), the Netherlands. Observations were conducted from 21:08 to 2:50 UT. A nice activity, though mostly faint sporadics. Some late Perseids, surprisingly low amount of Cygnids. In total, I observed 85 meteors in 4.76h effective observing time. All meteors have been plotted on a gnomonic map.
NB: note that amongst the 'sporadics' a minor fraction of late Aquarids might be present. Sieving these out will take me some time. Since I suffered quite some pain (due to health problems) in the early part of observations, I might not have been optimally concentrated.
Observations from stations Varsseveld and Bosschenhoofd are not available yet.
At 22:37:00 UT (+- 2 sec.) we noted a large flash coming from 'below' the eastern horizon. It was also seen by team Varsseveld. Juergen Rendtel (AKM/IMO) informed us that they noted a fireball from Potsdam (eastern Germany), about magnitude -5. This could have been the cause of the flash, though we are a little bit surprised about the reported magnitude, given the tremendous flash we saw (you would expect at least -10 or something similar).
Tonight seems to be a clear one again. So we will be out in the field again with at least two stations (Biddinghuizen and Varsseveld. At Biddinghuizen, Koen Miskotte will also join this night).
Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society, station Biddinghuizen
Below our VISUAL RESULTS for last night (19/20 august 1996). We have had a splendid night at our dark site Biddinghuizen (the Netherlands, 52d 29'16" N, 5d. 41' 19" E), with clear, very dark skies (Lm +6.8 to +6.9) and lots of meteors, though most faint ones. In 4.63h effective between 20:45-02:45 UT I observed 127 meteors of which 105 sporadics, 17 late Perseids and only 5 Cygnids. All meteors have been plotted on a gnomonic map.
A multistation photographic campaign was conducted this night between us (Biddinghuizen: Casper, Koen Miskotte and me) and Varsseveld (Hans Betlem c.s.). Though there weren't that many bright meteors, we expect some multistation meteors to be photographed.
Brightest meteor was a -3 Cygnid that appeared at 22:58:29 UT, distinct blue colour with 1.5 sec. persistent train. Another very nice meteor was a long and slooooooooooooow one (sporadic) that appeared at 22:08:58 UT, brightness about -1 and again distinctly blue, short persistent train (0.5 secs.). It took several seconds, and travelled from southern Aquarius into the Pegasus-Andromeda border area. I was plotting a meteor at that moment, Koen shouted, I looked up and saw at least 1.5-2 seconds of the meteor!
Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society, team Biddinghuizen
