After two successful observing campaigns in 2018 and 2019, I decided to go back to the south of Crete in 2022 to observe the maximums of the Southern Delta Aquarids and the Alpha Capricornids. The place Agios Pavlos was chosen because of the dark sky and the stable weather in the south of Crete, shielded from clouds by the mountain range that cover the central parts of the island. Only hundred meters from my rented apartment, I could make observations away from direct light sources under a very dark sky with Lm between 6,7 and 6.8.

The first night of observation, I decided to start early to monitor the activity from the Alpha Capricornids and the July Gamma Draconids, with radiants already at a suitable elevation. I quickly became aware of a problem with severe wind gusts blowing up sand particles from the ground into my face. These gusts of wind could be heard before they hit, so I was somehow able to protect my face during the short intervals they lasted. After about an hour, the wind calmed, and I could observe uninterrupted throughout the night.

Observations were made for 4 hours, between 20:15 and 00:20 UT. The sky was clear, with a limiting magnitude of 6.72. Stable sporadic rates between 8 and 11 were recorded. The SDA activity was very low, with only 3 meteors seen in four hours. It must be noted though, that the radiant was very low in the sky the first two hours. Two possible candidates to the GDR shower were detected. At 20:59, a 4 magnitude GDR appeared near the radiant in Draco, slowly gliding towards the border of Lyra. At 23:31 another beautiful GDR of magnitude 1 glided slowly through Cygnus. Three early Perseids were also detected the last two hours, but the best shower of the night was undoubtedly the Alpha Capricornids! Rates varied between 1 and 5, with a beautiful, slow moving, orange meteor that moved from about the position of Saturn in Capricornus, towards the position of Jupiter in Cetus as a highlite!

A total of 59 meteors were observed in 4 hours. Of these were 37 SPO, 10 CAP, 3 SDA, 3 PER, 4 ANT and 2 GDR.

Observed showers:

Alpha Capricornids (001 CAP)

Southern Delta Aquarids (005 SDA)

Perseids (007 PER)

July Gamma Draconids (184 GDR)

Anthelion Source (ANT)

 

20:15 – 21:15. Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm 6.72, RA: 255, Dec: +20

SPO: 9 meteors. +1(2), +2, +3(2), +4(2), +5, +6

CAP: 1 meteor. +4

SDA: 0 meteors.

PER: 0 meteors.

GDR: 1 meteor. +4

ANT: 1 meteor. +3

21:15 – 22:15. Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm 6.72, RA: 270, Dec: +20

SPO: 9 meteors. +0, +2(2), +3, +4(3), +5(2)

CAP: 1 meteor. +6

SDA: 0 meteors.

PER: 0 meteors.

GDR: 0 meteors.

ANT: 0 meteors.

22:15 – 23:15. Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm 6.72, RA: 285, Dec: +20

SPO: 11 meteors. +1, +3, +4(3), +5(5), +6

CAP: 5 meteors. -1, +1, +3(2), +5

SDA: 2 meteors. +1, +2

PER: 1 meteor. +4

GDR: 0 meteors.

ANT: 1 meteor. +5

23:15 – 00:20. Teff: 1.033 (3 minutes break), F: 1.00, Lm 6.72, RA: 300, Dec: +20

SPO: 8 meteors. +1, +2, +3, +4(2), +5(2), +6

CAP: 3 meteors. +4(2), +6

SDA: 1 meteor. +3

PER: 2 meteors. +4(2)

GDR: 1 meteor. +1

ANT: 2 meteors. +3, +4