I nearly “wrote off” the Perseids peak night because of poor weather.  The forecasts for areas around Ottawa was kind of all over the map.  It changed from “clouding over” to overcast and then possibly some clear skies.  By late afternoon, it looked like there was a renewed hope that it would clear during the night. I decided to wait for the Moon (just 2 days to being full) to descend, and go to Shane Finnigan’s property near Renfrew.  When I arrived, the sky was covered in patchy clouds but there was some decent clearing.  It was a very mild night at 18C.  I positioned myself deep into the property to keep the moon’s glare behind the trees and maximize my view of the northern sky.  While I was setting up my tracking mount and two cameras, a nice -3 PER flashed in the south-east, leaving behind a train persisting for several seconds.  I signed on at 2:22am EDT, the sky was mostly clear to the north, and the Perseids were very active!  I actually enjoyed the moon’s soft illumination on the ground.

In the first hour from 2:22-3:37am EDT (effective viewing time) with strong moonlight, I saw 23 Perseids.  Moonset occurred at 3:54am, allowing for a short “dark window” until morning dawn, and what a difference that did!  In the next 1.35 hours, from 3:37-5:00am EDT, the Perseids rates jumped to 78, for an average of over one meteor per minute!  As usual, some minutes would be quiet, followed by two meteors appearing just a second or two apart!

Many nice meteors were seen.  The big highlight was 3:39am EDT with a -5 PER fireball that flared and exploded in the east, leaving behind a 30 seconds train!  It lit up a part of the sky.  Unfortunately, my two cameras were not positioned to capture this meteor, but I was glad to have seen it!

Totals seen in 2.35 minutes: 116 meteors (101 Perseids, 1 Southern Delta Aquariid, 1 alpha Capricornid and 13 sporadics).

Here’s my photo results from this night:

Here’s a 15 Perseids composite image. All the meteors captured in the span of 2.5 hours are combined together. Canon 6D with Rokinon 24mm lens at f/2.0:

Here’s a 32 Perseids composite image. All the meteors captured in the span of 2.5 hours are combined together. Canon 5D with Rokinon 14mm lens at f/2.8:

Here’s a bright Perseid with flares. Canon 6D with Rokinon 24mm lens at f/2.0:

Observation August 12/13 2019, 06:22-09:00 UT (02:22-05:00 EDT)
Location: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
(45°25’48″N 76°38’24″W)

Observed showers:
kappa Cygnids (KCG) – 18:56 (284) +49
alpha Capricornids (CAP) – 21:05 (316) -07
Anthelion (ANT) – 22:04 (331) -12
Southern Delta Aquariids (SDA) – 23:27 (352) -12
Perseids (PER) – 03:01 (045) +57
eta Eridanids (ERI) – 02:56 (044) -12

06:22-07:37 UT (02:22-03:37 EDT); 10-20% cirrus clouds; 3/5 trans; F 1.09; LM 5.63; facing NNE60 deg; teff 1.00 hr, 15 min dead time (breaks)
PER: twenty-three: -1; 0(3); +1(4); +2(2); +3(8); +4(4); +5
Sporadics: four: +2; +3(2); +4
Total meteors: Twenty-seven

07:37-08:39 UT (03:37-04:39 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.33; facing NNE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr, 2 min dead time (break)
PER: sixty-four: -5; 0; +1(6); +2(12); +3(15); +4(13); +5(16)
SDA: one: +3
CAP: one: 0
Sporadics: seven: +2(2); +4(3); +5(2)
Total meteors: Seventy-three

08:39-09:00 UT (04:39-05:00 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 5.53; facing NNE55 deg; teff 0.35 hr
PER: fourteen: 0(2); +1(3); +2(2); +3(3); +4(3); +5
Sporadics: two: +2; +3
Total meteors: Sixteen

Clear skies,

Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario