Observation May 5/6 2019

On the following morning (May 6), I observed for two hours under a crystal clear sky.  It was a comfortable night with only the sound of spring peeper frogs and nocturnal birds!  The Eta Aquariids (ETA) seemed a bit less active with 5 seen.  The first ETA was an impressive 50 degrees long earth grazer that moved horizontally near the treeline through the Milky Way and below Jupiter.  The brightest was a mag -2 ETA at 4:11 am (local time) — a gorgeous yellow-green meteor that had a 30 degrees path and left a 3 sec train!  The Eta Lyrids (ELY) were again active in small numbers along with the Antihelion source. The highlight was the appearance of the International Space Station (ISS) with SpaceX Dragon resupply spacecraft. Both objects were seen flying in close formation just hours before docking!

 

May 5/6 2019, 06:54-08:52 UT (02:54-04:52 EDT)
Location: Bootland Farm (Stewartville), Ontario, Canada
(45°23’N 76°29’W)

Observed showers:
Antihelion (ANT) – 15:48 (237) -20
eta Lyrids (ELY) – 19:04 (286) +43
eta Aquariids (ETA) – 22:25 (336) -02

06:54-07:54 UT (02:54-03:54 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.30; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr, temp +8C
ETA: two: +1; +5
ANT: two: +2; +4
ELY: two: +3; +5
Sporadics: four: +3(2); +4(2)
Total meteors: Ten

07:54-08:52 UT (03:54-04:52 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 5.75; facing SE65 deg; teff 0.97 hr, temp +6C
ETA: three: -2; +3; +4
ANT: one: -2
ELY: one: +4
Sporadics: none
Total meteors: Five