I enjoyed a pleasant night of observing at Shane Finnigan’s property, near Renfrew (about 80 km west of Ottawa), with the company of Raymond Dubois and Shane to view the post-maximum Lyrids. (Unfortunately, the previous night was overcast for the peak rates). Hearing the sounds of the frogs, owls, birds and the country fresh air is always good. While chatting with Shane and Raymond, while the radiant was still very low, I casually saw a 30 degrees long Lyrids earthgrazer! Not too long after, a very slow +3 meteor came about and appeared to have radiated from the h-Virginid radiant.
I watched meteors for two and a half hours, from 11:25pm to 1:55am (local time). The sky had some passing cloudiness that delayed the start of my session, but after that, the clouds were thin and scattered, and were only a minor nuisance. I counted 12 meteors (6 Lyrids, one anthelion and 5 sporadics). The brightest Lyrid was a blue -2 meteor with a one second train. It appeared that the Lyrids activity tapered off even as the radiant climbed. Unfortunately, my session was cut short when the sky became overcast just before 2am EDT.
April 22/23 2022, 03:25-05:55 UT (23:25-01:55 EDT)
Location: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
(45°25’48″N 76°38’24″W)
IMO session: https://www.imo.net/members/imo_vmdb/view?session_id=84006
Observed showers:
h Virginids (HVI) – 13:28 (202) -10
Alpha Virginids (AVB) – 13:39 (205) +04
Anthelions (ANT) – 15:04 (226) -17
Lyrids (LYR) – 18:17 (274) +33
eta Aquariids (ETA) – 22:00 (330) -05
03:25-04:25 UT (23:25-00:25 EDT); 2/5 trans; F 1.09; LM 6.10; facing E60 deg; teff 1.00 hr
LYR: four: -2; -1; +3; +5
ANT: one: +2
Sporadics: one: +2
Total meteors: Six
04:25-05:25 UT (00:25-01:25 EDT); 2.5/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.20; facing E60 deg; teff 1.00 hr
LYR: one: +2
Sporadics: two: +3; +4
Total meteors: Three
05:25-05:55 UT (01:25-01:55 EDT); 2.5/5 trans; F 1.07; LM 6.20; facing E60 deg; teff 0.50 hr
LYR: one: +3
Sporadics: two: +3; +5
Total meteors: Three
Total meteors for this session: 12
Clear skies,
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
