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This page was last modified on August 13 1997 by Casper ter Kuile and Marco Langbroek |
Perseids 1997: visual results
team Delphinus, Biddinghuizen
July 27/28, 1997 Date : 27/28 july 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (IMO-code: MISKO) Location : Ermelo, Groevenbeekse Heide (5d37m E, 52d18m N) Start : 22h22m UT End : 00h01m UT Teff. : 2.45 h ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Period (UT) Tm Teff Lm Per dAqrZ dAqrN Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 21h22m - 22h30m 21.93 1.03 6.41 1 1 2 5 0 17 26 22h30m - 00h01m 23.25 1.42 6.43 5 5 0 3 0 13 26 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 21h22m - 00h01m 22.69 2.45 6.42 6 6 2 8 0 30 52 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 N Perseids 2 2 1 1 6 delta Aqr-Z 1 1 2 delta Aqr-N 2 3 1 6 Capricornids 1 1 2 4 8 Sporadics 1 1 6 10 10 2 30 ======================================================================= Date : 27/28 july 1997 Observer : Marco Langbroek (IMO-code: LANMA) Location : Voorschoten (4d28m E, 52d07m N) Start : 22h20m UT End : 23h16m UT Teff. : 0.83 h ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Period (UT) Tm Teff Lm Per dAqr iAqr Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 22h20m - 23h16m 22.80 0.83 6.3 1 2 1 1 1 8 14 Remark: stopped because of upcoming cirrus. Nice southern stream activity. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 N Sporadics 1 1 3 2 1 8 =======================================================================August 4/5, 1997 Date : 4/5 August 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (IMO-code: MISKO) Location : Biddinghuizen (5d41m E, 52d29m N) Start : 21h50m UT End : 02h01m UT Teff. : 4.08 h --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Period (UT) Tm Teff Lm Per dAqrZ dAqrN Aqu Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 21h50m - 23h00m 22.42 1.17 6.74 10 2 2 3 1 0 21 39 23h00m - 00h00m 23.50 1.00 6.80 12 2 2 0 1 0 16 33 00h00m - 01h00m 00.50 0.98 6.66 13 3 1 1 1 1 17 37 01h00m - 02h01m 01.51 0.93 6.46 15 2 0 0 2 0 13 32 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21h50m - 02h01m 23.92 4.08 6.67 50 9 5 4 5 1 67 141 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 N Perseids 1 1 1 3 3 8 12 13 7 1 50 delta Aqr-N 1 1 3 5 delta Aqr-Z 2 3 2 2 9 Aquarids 2 1 1 4 Capricornids 1 1 1 1 1 5 kappa Cygnids 1 1 Sporadics 1 3 16 27 15 5 67 Remark: very clear night; after 00:45 UT some very thin cirrus ===========================================================================August 5/6, 1997 Date : 5/6 August 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h23m UT End : 02h05m UT Teff : 4.32 h -------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr Cap k Cyg Spo Ntot 21:23 - 22:30 1.12 6.6 7 3 1 1 3 22 22:30 - 23:32 0.95 6.7 11 4 1 0 1 13 23:32 - 00:49 1.00 6.7 14 2 1 0 2 14 00:49 - 02:05 1.25 6.6 15 2 0 0 1 17 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 4.32 <6.6> 47 11 3 1 7 66 135 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- stream -4/ -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 1 0 6 19 23 13 4 Perseids 1 1 2 1 2 6 14 13 5 2 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 3 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3 2 0 Note: This night Koen saw themeteor of his career! It was a +3 sporadic in Lacerta. ===========================================================================August 6/7, 1997 We had something special in evening twilight. The Russian Mir space-station crossed over with magnitude -1 brightness in a star-spangled sky, but the special thing was that it was immediately followed by a fainter speck (~mag. 2-3) at about seven degrees distance: the progress module heading for a rendezvous with the space-platform to deliver the repair crew! The sight was rather special indeed: 'life' spaceflight manouvring right before your eyes. Couldn't help hearing some vague songlines of David Bowie in the back of my mind when spotting this unique sight.
Stations in the western Netherlands and Belgium report a long duration -3 event (6 seconds) that might have been a satellite decay. Neither us in the center of the country nor the stations in the eastern Netherlands saw it, it was probably too low for us.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : 6/7 August 1997 Observer : Marco Langbroek (IMO-code: LANMA) Location : Biddinghuizen (5d41m E, 52d29m N) Start : 21h18m UT End : 02h18m UT Teff. : 4.09 h --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Period (UT) Tm Teff Lm Per dAqr iAqr Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 21h18m - 22h36m 1.45 6.8 11 2 1 0 2 18 34 22h36m - 23h40m 0.88 6.8 11 4 1 3 1 14 34 23h40m - 01h16m 1.43 6.8 22 4 2 1 1 25 55 01h57m - 02h18m 0.33 6.3 5 1 0 0 0 5 11 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 21h18m - 02h18m 4.09 6.8 49 11 4 4 4 62 134 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 N Sporadics 2 1 4 16 17 16 6 62 Perseids 3 6 11 7 14 6 2 49 delta Aquarids 1 3 4 2 11 iota Aquarids 2 1 1 4 Capricornids 1 2 1 4 kappa Cygnids 1 1 2 4 Remark: nice clear dark sky. Mir+Soyus in twilight, distance ~7 degrees. =========================================================================== Date : 6/7 August 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h23m UT End : 02h05m UT Teff : 4.32 h ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr Cap k Cyg Spo Ntot 21:16 - 22:03 0.78 6.6 6 0 1 0 0 11 18 22:03 - 23:03 1.00 6.7 14 4 1 1 2 16 38 23:03 - 00:00 0.95 6.7 15 1 0 1 2 18 37 00:00 - 01:00 0.97 6.7 13 3 1 0 1 18 36 01:00 - 02:10 1.00 6.4 16 1 0 0 0 13 30 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 4.70 <6.6> 64 9 3 2 5 76 159 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- stream -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 5 17 35 17 2 Perseids 1 2 3 14 9 19 12 4 d Aquarids 0 0 0 1 3 3 2 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 k Cygnids 1 0 0 1 1 2 0 0 ==========================================================================August 7/8, 1997 This night more or less fizzled. It started all well with a nice sky, but after some time the limiting magnitude decreased, became slightly variable, and we received distorting calls from the stations to the east of us that they were clouded out. Around 2:15 am local time, the cirrus intruded and persisted untill well into morning twilight.
Well, still seen some nice meteors that made the night worthwhile. A nice yellow -2 Perseid at 22:01:28 UT and a nice -1 sporadic at 23:40:28 for example. And a rather nice share of delta Aquarids. A +2 Capricornid made the typical long sloooooooow traject low in the sky.
Early in the night, we saw the Mir passing over (twice), again followed by another object but this time at a much larger distance than the previous night. The second object was slightly variable so we suspect it was one of the rocket stages.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 7/8 1997 Observer: Marco Langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location: Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h17m UT End : 00h15m UT Teff : 2.68 h ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr Cyg Cap Spo Ntot 21:17 - 22:18 0.98 6.7 9 5 2 1 1 14 32 22:21 - 23:30 1.00 6.6 11 0 1 1 1 15 29 23:30 - 00:15 0.70 6.5 10 3 2 1 0 15 31 TOTAL 2.68 <6.6> 30 8 5 3 2 44 92 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 1 0 2 6 8 14 9 4 Perseids 1 0 1 2 6 7 7 6 0 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 2 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 =================================================================================== Date : 7/8 August 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h15m UT End : 00h57m UT Teff : 3.10 h ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 21:15 - 22:21 1.10 6.56 12 2 1 0 3 14 32 22:21 - 22:30 0.87 6.50 12 3 1 1 0 12 29 23:30 - 00:57 1.13 6.38 11 6 2 0 1 13 33 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TOTAL 3.10 <6.48> 35 11 4 1 4 39 94 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- stream -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ntot Perseids 1 0 1 1 2 3 10 11 5 1 35 d Aquarids 1 3 5 2 11 i Aquarids 1 1 1 1 4 Capricornids 1 1 k Cygnids 2 2 4 Sporadics 6 7 12 10 3 39 ===================================================================================August 8/9, 1997 Below my data from last night. This was a very nice night indeed, with a very clear sky especially during the second part of observations. The Perseids have now reached a quite attractive level of activity and several bright ones per night can now be seen. The delta Aquarids still have a nice activity too, while the kappa Cygnid activity seems to strengthen gradually. But the Capricornids have nearly ceased activity.
Particular nice meteors appeared at 22:14:36 UT (mag 0 Per), 23:01:43 UT (-1 Per), a beautifull loooooooong -2 delta Aquarid of several seconds low in the southern sky at 23:09:29, a -1 Per at 0:47:44, and two mag 0 Pers at 1:48:26 and 1:52:04. And there were a couple of bright ones that were seen by Koen or Casper, including a nice -3 that appeared while I was making a sanitary stop (...). A -2 sporadic appeared only a few degrees above the eastern horizon near 2h UT.
So it will be clear that we enjoyed ourselves this night!
Actually, it seemed to become a quite hazy night in the afternoon, so we were really surprised to see the haze dissolute after sunset and the night sky becoming increasingly clear. During evening twilight, we had a fireworks display to start with from a neighbouring village. Since our camera's were already open I guess the first pictures will be a little bit too illuminated by bright 'celestial' objects....
Unlike the previous night, our new 85 mm camera array that we build especially for the upcoming 1998 Leonid expedition now functioned excellent. We have equiped it with a more accurate but battery-pack driven sector producing 75 breaks per second. We are now convinced that it will indeed function for at least 4 hours on the battery-pack alone after last night's test. That means we don't have to take a generator into central China in 1998 or trust on the Chines electric, if that exists at all in the remote place we plan to go.
We saw the Mir again late in twilight. The second object following it (the Progress rocket) is now at a slightly larger distance but it still is a peculiar view to see those two chasing each other.
Coming night will probably be good again here, but for the maximum period, we fear the development of a thunderstorm.
Well, below the 'hard facts' of last night. 271 meteors observed in 4.19h Eff with Lm near +6.7-6.8.
-Marco.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 8/9, 1997 Observer : Marco Langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h35m UT End : 02h17m UT Teff : 4.19h ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr k Cyg Cap Spo Ntot 21:35 - 22:36 1.00 6.7 16 3 2 3 0 16 40 22:36 - 23:35 0.87 6.7 21 6 1 4 0 19 51 23:43 - 00:48 1.02 6.8 27 8 3 3 2 28 71 00:48 - 01:52 0.93 6.8 26 5 2 0 0 40 73 01:52 - 02:17 0.37 6.3 21 3 0 0 0 12 36 TOTAL 4.19 <6.7> 111 25 8 10 2 115 271 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 1 0 0 1 9 17 36 34 17 Perseids 0 2 3 4 8 27 33 19 15 d Aquarids 1 0 0 0 0 7 8 9 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 1 0 0 3 4 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 2 1 1 4 1 1 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 ================================================================================== Date : August 8/9, 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h35m UT End : 02h17m UT Teff : 4.55h ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff LM Per d Aqr i Aqr Cap k Cyg Spo Ntot 21:35 - 22:36 0.95 6.6 7 3 2 1 3 12 28 22:36 - 23:30 0.82 6.6 11 4 1 0 1 15 32 23:30 - 00:30 1.00 6.8 27 5 1 1 2 14 50 00:30 - 01:29 0.98 6.8 44 4 2 1 2 30 83 01:29 - 02:17 0.80 6.4 32 4 1 0 0 16 53 TOTAL 4.55 <6.6> 121 20 7 3 8 87 246 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 0 1 10 20 36 15 5 Perseids 1 1 2 2 5 15 32 37 19 7 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 8 7 1 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3 2 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 3 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: after 23:30 UT very clear sky! ==================================================================================August 9/10, 1997 Below our results of last night. This was a little bit a poor night concerning the weather conditions. When we arrived at Biddinghuizen, there was some cirrus that disolved after sunset, so prospects looked nice at first. But it remained hazy, and actually this was due to a blanket of low fog that began to cover the meadows. Limiting magnitudes down to +6.3, which is bad for Biddinghuizen. Around 00:52 UT (2:52 am local time) a blanket of Altocumulus that had culled off the stations in the eastern Netherlands earlier began to intrude and I stopped. Koen, who was a little bit tired, had stopped much earlier because of the poor conditions. Yet, before the Altocumulus came, observing was still well possible though not quite inspiring compared to the previous Lm +6.8 night
The night started well with a nice slooooow -2 yellow Capricornid in Umi at 21:22:50 UT. There have been more bright meteors this night, e.g. 22:24:37 UT (-1 Perseid), and a couple of magnitude zero's. A bright one of at least -5 appeared through the Altocumulus while I was rolling in the electric wiring and saw the wire-roll and surrounding meadows light up.
We saw the Mir again around 21:25 UT. It is still followed by the Progress, but the distance increases.
Well, though I collected a nice share of meteors, still the general feeling with us is that this night fizzled a little bit. A very large stationary high pressure area has established itself over Europe, so I fear hazy skies and development of nightly fog will continue. In weather forecasts, the first appearance of thunderstorms is now prolonged to August 13. But about an hour ago, some eastern breeze developed and the sky quality is slightly increasing. So if the breeze continues and fog gets no chance, maybe tonight will be fine.
-Marco
DMS team 'Delphinus', the Netherlands------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 9/10, 1997 Observer : Marco Langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h22m UT End : 00h52m UT Teff : 2.60h ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr k Cyg Cap Spo Ntot 21:22 - 22:22 0.95 6.5 22 3 2 3 2 15 47 22:22 - 23:46 0.83 6.3 26 4 1 1 0 17 49 23:46 - 00:22 0.40 6.3 13 2 0 2 0 6 23 00:22 - 00:52 0.42 6.2 13 1 0 4 0 7 25 TOTAL 2.60 <6.3> 74 10 3 10 2 45 144 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 1 3 9 23 9 0 Perseids 0 1 3 5 6 19 29 11 0 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 4 5 1 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 1 1 2 5 1 0 Capricornids 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 ========================================================================================== Date : August 9/10, 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h20m UT End : 23h55m UT Teff : 1.91h ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff LM Per dAqr iAqr Cap kCyg Spo Ntot 21:20 - 22:40 1.33 6.48 17 1 1 1 3 11 34 22:40 - 23:55 0.58 6.40 7 0 0 0 0 1 8 TOTAL 1.91 <6.45> 24 1 1 1 3 12 42 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 0 1 2 6 3 0 Perseids 0 0 0 3 2 9 7 3 0 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Capricornids 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: Hazy night, later fog. Tired observer... ==================================================================================August 10/11, 1997 Below my data from last night. At first, it looked grim. We arrived at Biddinghuizen with a clear sky, but during early twilight a cover of altocumulus moved in from the south. Since it seemed 'endless' and one of our stations to the southeast reported it too, we feared that that would be it for this night. Inbetween the small open spaces in the cover we saw nice meteors, a.o. a mag. 0 Capricornid.
Around 22:10 UT it cleared and after a short period with hazy but open cast sky, it quickly improved, and actually it would become very clear during this night. High rates, but many faint meteors at first. Brighter ones came later that night, in seizable numbers up to -3 (of course, that one occured while I took a sanitary stop - it always does). We must have photographed several. Due to the clear sky, it seemed like maximum! After the bad start, this was a very pleasant surprise and we really enjoyed the fine show the Perseids put on last night for us. I ended up with 455 meteors in 3.81 h effective!
So it seems that this is one of our best ever Perseid campaigns in terms of numbers of bright nights. The newest forecasts are increasingly possitive for tonight, with the thunderstorms either not yet near us or already dissoluted. There is even a chance that 12/13 will be good too. At the moment, the sky is bright blue with a strong breeze. So we are very positive here.
-Marco (DMS, the Netherlands)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 10/11, 1997 Observer: Marco Langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location: Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 22h20m UT End : 02h30m UT Teff : 3.81h --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr k Cyg Cap Spo Ntot 22:20 - 23:04 0.67 6.4 39 9 1 3 0 15 67 23:04 - 00:25 1.17 6.6* 76 16 4 6 2 37 141 00:25 - 01:26 0.93 6.8 57 12 1 3 1 40 114 01:26 - 02:11 0.72 6.7 67 8 1 4 0 25 105 02:11 - 02:30 0.32 6.0 15 1 3 1 0 8 28 TOTAL 3.81 <6.7> 254 46 10 17 3 125 455 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Note: During the interval 23:04 - 00:25 UT I probably underestimated the Lm given the high numbers of meteors. The sky was quickly brightening and somewhat variable at that time, with scattering Lm counts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 1 0 12 30 60 20 3 Perseids 1 3 4 6 17 50 94 58 20 d Aquarids 0 0 0 0 1 12 26 7 1 i Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 1 k Cygnids 0 0 1 1 0 3 10 2 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 =================================================================================================== Date : August 10/11, 1997 Observer: Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location: Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 22h16m UT End : 02h30m UT Teff : 3.85h -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per Aqr Cap Cyg Spo Ntot 22:16 - 23:20 1.05 6.5 43 4 0 4 8 59 23:20 - 00:15 0.75 6.6 32 6 0 3 20 61 00:27 - 01:30 1.05 6.8 85 7 0 1 32 125 01:30 - 02:30 1.00 6.3 68 3 1 1 25 98 TOTAL 3.85 <6.6> 228 20 1 9 85 343 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notes: no split in delta and iota Aquarids due to radiant line-up. Concentration problems around 00:00 UT, took a short quarter of an hour nap to overcome the problem. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Sporadics 0 0 0 1 1 5 29 37 11 1 Perseids 1 3 3 9 9 27 59 67 42 8 Aquarids 0 0 0 0 0 1 9 8 2 0 Capricornids 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 k Cygnids 0 0 0 1 1 2 2 1 2 0 ================================================================================August 11/12, 1997 Just woke up at 4 pm local time after a long and deep sleep. Below my data from last night. This was a great night! It was the clearest sky so far during our campaign, the sky was extremely dark and limiting magnitudes rose to +6.9 after moonset and stayed there the whole of the night. One of the finest nights I ever experienced during any Perseid campaign! Given the fine share of clear nights last 1.5 weeks, it looks like southern Europe has come to the Netherlands. This is our best Perseid campaign in the 17 yr history of DMS, concerning number of clear nights and general observing conditions.
Meteors were harvested by numbers. The big kick of such extremely high Lm's is that the numbers of meteors become enourmous -the massive increase is in the faint ones that become visible with such Lm's. So, this resulted in a rich crop: 588 meteors in 4.98h effective, of which 387 were Perseids. Many faint ones due to the high Lm, but also some nice fireballs, especially later in the night.
Nice meteors appeared at (a.o., and time in UT) :
21:27:10 -1 Per 21:39:15 -2 Per 23:04:20 -1 Per 23:17:18 -1 Per 23:44:00 -2 Per 23:51:12 -1 Per 00:27:26 -1 Per 00:37:27 -1 Spo 00:54:02 -1 Per 00:54:20 -3 Per 01:08:25 -5 Per 01:09:02 -4 Per 01:56:40 -1 Per 01:59:05 -1 Per 02:12:47 -1 Per 02:29:35 -5 Per
...in addition, many magnitude zero's were seen.
There is some cirrus in the sky now. A dissolving small front passed over this afternoon, a second one will arrive this night probably but will be largely dissolved (or so we hope). The thundersorms have dissappeared: dissolved into the weak fronts with some cirrus now passing by.
-Marco Langbroek
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 11/12, 1997 Observer: Marco Langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location: Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h10m UT End : 02h35m UT Teff : 4.98h --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per d Aqr i Aqr k Cyg Cap Spo Ntot 21:10 - 22:00 0.78 6.4 37 1 1 2 0 13 22:00 - 23:02 1.02 6.9 56 8 0 3 1 30 23:02 - 00:09 1.00 6.9 85 9 2 7 2 33 00:09 - 01:09 0.80 6.9 78 5 3 6 1 32 01:09 - 02:09 0.95 6.9 99 5 1 2 1 23 02:09 - 02:35 0.43 6.0 32 4 0 2 0 4 TOTAL 4.98 <6.9> 387 32 7 22 5 135 588 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spo 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 5 46 54 22 2 Per 2 1 1 2 9 15 22 34 110 104 56 34 d Aqr 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 12 9 7 2 i Aqr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0 0 k Cyg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 11 4 0 Cap 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0 ======================================================================================= Date : August 11/12, 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO - KMH) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 21h12m UT End : 02h35m UT Teff : 5.02h --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per Aqr Cap Cyg Spo 21:12 - 22:21 1.15 6.5 43 2 0 2 14 22:21 - 23:20 0.98 6.8 59 6 0 3 19 23:20 - 00:34 1.02 6.8 66 5 0 2 22 00:42 - 01:31 0.82 6.8 94 4 1 0 22 01:31 - 02:35 1.07 6.4 91 4 0 1 21 TOTAL 5.02 <6.8> 353 21 1 8 98 481 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- stream -6/ -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spor 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 36 38 13 2 Per 1 1 1 2 10 10 22 56 100 102 38 10 Aqr 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 6 8 4 0 Cyg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1 4 1 0 Cap 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 Note: Koen writes: 'very clear sky. It looks like good old times in Southern France 1984-1986!' ==============================================================================================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
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date : August 12/13, 1997 Observer : Marco langbroek (LANMA - MLV) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands, 52d 29' N, 5d 41' E Start : 22h55m UT End : 02h15m UT Teff : 3.02h --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UT Teff Lm Per Aqr Cyg Cap Spo 22:55 - 23:21 0.42 6.3 18 2 4 0 13 23:21 - 00:30 1.00 6.6 106 10 8 1 29 00:30 - 01:29 0.87 6.6 89 14 8 0 22 01:29 - 02:15 0.73 6.1 71 5 7 2 21 TOTAL 3.02 <6.6> 284 31 27 3 85 430 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: No differentiation in delta and iota Aquarids due to large distance to radiant. Some Aquarids might be among the 'sporadics'. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stream -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spor 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 29 28 17 3 Per 1 0 0 1 1 6 9 26 59 94 62 25 Aqr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14 13 2 0 Cyg 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 12 7 4 0 Cap 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 ============================================================================================= Date : August 12/13, 1997 Observer : Koen Miskotte (MISKO) Location : Biddinghuizen, the Netherlands (52d 29' N, 5d 41' E) Start : 22h55m UT End : 02h12m UT Teff : 3.25h ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ UT Teff Lm Per Aqr Cap Cyg Spo Ntot 22:55 - 00:07 1.20 6.52 85 6 1 2 17 111 00:07 - 01:12 1.07 6.42 86 4 0 1 14 105 01:12 - 02:12 0.98 6.10 65 2 1 1 16 85 TOTAL 3.25 <6.35> 236 12 2 4 47 301 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- stream -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Spor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 16 20 9 1 Per 1 0 0 1 3 6 9 25 72 74 34 11 Aqr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 3 3 2 0 Cyg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 Cap 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: The first 20 min. 10% thin cirrus; the last 15 min. thin cirrus.
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This page was last modified on August 13 1997 by Casper ter Kuile and Marco Langbroek |