Greetings again all,
   It’s turning into quite a run of clear nights for me to observe the ETAs and I’m loving every minute of it.  I got in two more hours of prime pre-dawn viewing this morning from the Matanzas Inlet site and after yet another  slow start, they ended up kicking in pretty good indeed once again.  In addition, the ELYs and the ANTs. chimed in very well themselves this morning!   It was a busy session once again.  Here’s the data:

May 8/9, 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).

 

0315 – 0415 EDT (0715 – 0815 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 6.9, Clear, Facing: East

5 ETA: +2, +3(2), +4, +5  

2 ELY: +1, 3

2 ANT: +2, +4

10 SPO: +1, +2, +3(4), +4(3), +5

19 total meteors

 

0415 – 0515 EDT (0815 – 0915 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 6.3 (twilight), Clear, Facing: East

17 ETA: +1(2), +2(3), +3(5), +4(4), +5(3)

6 ELY: +2, +3(3), +4, +5

5 ANT: +2(2), +3, +4(2)

12 SPO: +2(2), +3(4), +4(3), +5(2), +6

40 total meteors

 

15 of the 22 ETAs left visible trains, predominate colors were yellow and orange with reddish tints.

The first meteor of the watch was a nice +1 “eta” – but not an ETA, it was an ELY, splitting the distance between Vega and Altair and shooting straight at Altair in a perfect radiant line up.  Once again, this minor radiant showed up well this morning and really kicks in the last hour before dawn, it seems. 

The ETAs got off to a very slow start once again and I thought they might be really finally ramping down, but as usual they surprised me by kicking in very nicely in that last hour.  Right at the end of the second hour, I even spotted one tracking due east from the radiant.  They were fainter this morning on the average than they were yesterday, but the high train percentage kept going and there were some lovely long, speedy meteors with glowing trains hung on the sky behind them – rocking awesome! 

Yet another pleasant surprise was the return of the ANT radiant which had been strangely quiet the last two mornings.  They returned in fine form this morning though, with some nice long and slow meteors tracking eastward to counterpoint the blazing fast streaks of the ETAs usually going west.  And then in the middle of them, I had the ELYs and SPOs going too for a true, full-sky, holistic visual experience…;o). 

I actually saw a few hazy clouds around the edges of the sky while out this morning, the first I’d seen in days.  I imagine that means that the glorious high pressure dome is weakening and my pristine skies are endangered species, but I plan to give it another go in the morning to monitor the ETA ramp down.  Plus, the predicted max of the ELYs is in the morning as well, we’ll see what they can do. too..

Clear skies, Paul J in North Florida