Greetings again all,

The disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico was supposed to wipe us out last night, but instead the skies cleared beautifully in the afternoon and it was almost perfect for a memorable two hour pre-dawn watch this morning.  Fellow ACACer Lynne Pouliot joined me at Matanzas Inlet and Brenda Branchett was out once again down in Deltona, Florida to our south.

I think all the hours of lost sleep are catching up with me as my results were somewhat off this morning and Brenda topped me quite a bit on her observed PER rates.  It was great to have Lynne’s company though and we did see a lot of nice PERs and others in addition to the awesome -4 PER fireball at the end.

Here’s my results:

  • CAP – alpha Capricornids
  • ERI – eta Eridanids
  • ANT – Anthelions
  • PER – Perseids
  • SDA: South delta Aquariids
  • PAU – Piscids Austrinids
  • NDA: North delta Aquariids
  • KCG: kappa Cygnids
  • BPE – beta Perseids

Session One:

August 6/7 2016, observer: Paul Jones, Location: North Bank of Matanzas Inlet, Florida, Lat: 29.75N, Log: 81.24W (approximately 18 miles south of St. Augustine, Florida). LM: 6.7, Clear, Facing: west

0325 – 0425 EDT (0725 – 0825 UT), Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks

  • 28 PER: 0, +1(4), +2(7), +3(10), +4(4), +5(2)
  • 4 SDA: 0, +3, +4(2)
  • 1 NDA: +3
  • 2 CAP: -1, +2
  • 1 ERI: +2
  • 1 BPE: +1
  • 9 SPO: +2(2), +3. +4(3), +5(3)
  • 46 total meteors

12 of the 46 meteors (8 PERs, 1 SDA, 1 NDA, 1 BPE and 1 SPO) left trains. Yellow and blue tints were seen in the brighter PERs and the SDAs.

Session Two:

August 6/7, 2016 Observer: Paul Jones, Location: North Bank of Matanzas Inlet, Florida, Lat: 29.75N, Log: 81.24W (approximately 18 miles south of St. Augustine, Florida).

0425 – 0525 EDT (0825 – 0925 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 6.9, Clear, except for some very slight haze near the horizons, facing: west

  • 27 PER: -4, +1(3), +2(7), +3(8), +4(6), +5(2)
  • 1 SDA: +2
  • 1 NDA: +4
  • 1 ERI: +3
  • 1 BPE: +2
  • 8 SPO: +1, +2, +3(2), +4(3), +5
  • 39 total meteors

14 of the 39 meteors left trains (11 PERs, 1 SDA and 2 SPO), a couple of the PERs were bluish and a couple were yellowish, but the -4 PER fireball was both blue and yellow with tints of orange as well with a seven second train left behind it – a rainbow meteor!

Lynne and I had a great time discussing the meteors we saw and comparing impressions on magnitudes.  We were pretty close on most of them.  The PER fireball perfectly placed at the end of the session was an amazing treasure for the watch.  It made it all worthwhile!

Here’s Brenda’s data and impressions also from Deltona, Florida:

Date: August 6/7, 2016

Location: Deltona, Fl.

Sky visible: 70 percent

Sky conditions first hour: Started out a bit hazy with 4.5 mag visible. Clearing as the hour progressed, improving to 5.0-5.5 mag visible

Time: 3:30-4:30 EDT (0730 – 0830 UT)

  • PER – 42 ( mostly observed 2nd and 3rd mag. Nothing brighter than 0 mag.) T
  • SPO – 5
  • KCG – 3
  • ERI – 2
  • SDA – 1
  • Total — 53

Time: 4:30-5:30 EDT (0830 – 0930 UT)

PER – 32 ( this hour the sky conditions were a bit more hazy with 4.5 mag visible, it did clear back to 5.0 mag visible during the hour.)

Once again, mostly 2nd and 3rd mag visible, right at 5:30, minus 4 Per)

  • SPO – 5
  • KCG – 1
  • SDA – 2
  • ERI – 2
  • Satellites — 3, which includes the Hubble
  • Total — 42

All in all, it was an eventful morning all around and one we were not supposed to have gotten in. So far, the system in the Gulf has produced little rain to speak of and nights are mostly clear!  May the Force continue to be with us in the nights ahead! We want to see many more PER fireballs like the one we had this morning!!

More later, Paul J in North Florida