After returning from a successful SDA campaign under very dark skies in Crete, it was a bit of a downturn to return to full moon observations under a still bright summer sky in Norway. A good weather forecast still inspired me to try to observe the pre-maximum night of the Perseids. The sky was bright towards the horizon in all directions, leaving only a small part of the sky towards the zenith reasonable dark, with a Lm of 5,26 at the start of the observation. The full moon was low in the southern sky, but behind my back and field of view.
After 4 minutes of observation, I became aware of a slow moving, yellow/red sporadic meteor of mag +1 that glided through Ursa Major, leaving multiple fragments in its path. After 10 minutes the first Perseid was seen, a beautiful, yellow, -2 mag in Cepheus. Two more bright Perseids of mag +0 were seen during the first hour, and the total count came in at 8.
In the next hour the Lm in zenith improved slightly to 5,36. Perseid rates kept steady and came in at 10, with a -1 and a +0-magnitude meteor as the brightest events.
In the third hour morning twilight was already approaching, but still a Lm of 5,26 could be obtained in the zenith. 9 Perseids could be seen this hour, with a -1 and a +0-magnitude meteor as highlights.
Despite the bright sky conditions, it proved worth to sacrifice a night of good sleep to observe the pre-maximum night of the Perseids. Some really nice meteors were seen, and it was a special feeling to lay out in the field observing meteors in the bright moonlight.
A total of 35 meteors were seen during 3 hours of observation. Of these were: 27 PER, 8 SPO, and 0 KCG.
Observed showers:
Perseids (007 PER)
Kappa Cygnids (012 KCG)
21:50 – 22:50. Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm: 5.26, RA: 330, DEC: +75
PER: 8 meteors. -2, +0(2), +1, +2, +3, +4, +5
SPO: 2 meteors. +1(2)
KCG: 0 meteors.
22:50 – 23:50. Teff: 1.00, F: 1.00, Lm: 5.36, RA: 330, DEC: +75
PER: 10 meteors. -1, +0, +1, +2, +3(4), +4(2)
SPO: 3 meteors. +2, +3(2)
KCG: 0 meteors.
23:50 – 00:55. Teff: 1.00 (5 minutes break), F: 1.00, Lm: 5.26, RA: 330, DEC: +75
PER: 9 meteors. -1, +0, +1(2), +2(2), +4, +5(2)
SPO: 3 meteors. +3(2), +5
KCG: 0 meteors.
