For the the third night of observing, Ivan and I once again setup on the beach by the water facing the south-east sky.  This time, Ivan used a handy folding cart to carry his telescope and gear from the parking lot, over to the beach.  We did two short trips, and we used one of the picnic tables there to put all the gear.  Once again, the beach was completely quiet and dark.  It’s a rare thing to see in a campground that is filled with hundreds of people and yet have such a quiet and secluded area with no one around.  There are two other beaches that are much easier to access, busier and more popular, so we avoided them in favour of the quiet spot.

I observed for three hours until dawn and saw 49 meteors (16 Southern Delta Aquariids, 11 Perseids, 5 alpha Capricornids, 2 Anthelions, 2 eta Eridanids, 1 gamma Draconid, 1 Northern delta Aquariid, 1 phi Piscid and 10 sporadics).

By far, the big highlight was the spectacular -5 Perseid fireball at 2:13am that shot 40 degrees in the south.  It ended with a terminal flash that lit up the sky and left a sharp 12 seconds persistent train!

It felt like a strange night.  After a strong first hour (beginning just after 1:00am local time) with 22 meteors, the rest of the night had much slower meteor rates.  Sporadic rates were quite weak overall.  The big Perseid fireball and the beautiful dark sky by the lake more than made it up for it!  The zodiacal light was also easily visible.  The night seemed to go by quickly, a sign that it was well enjoyed!

Observation July 31/August 1 2019, 05:10-08:35 UT (01:10-04:35 EDT)
Location: Bon Echo Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
(Long: -77 deg 12’ 30″ West; Lat: 44 deg 53’ 36″ North)

Observed showers:
gamma Draconids (GDR) – 18:40 (280) +50
alpha Capricornids (CAP) – 20:10 (303) -10
Anthelion (ANT) – 21:08 (317) -16
Northern delta Aquariids (NDA) – 22:07 (332) -04
Southern Delta Aquariids (SDA) – 22:34 (339) -17
Piscids Austrinids (PAU) – 22:52 (343) -25
Perseids (PER) – 01:40 (025) +54
eta Eridanids (ERI) – 02:04 (032) -17
49 Andromedids (FAN) – 02:11 (033) +51
phi Piscids (PPS) – 02:37 (039) +34
psi Cassiopeiids (PCA) – 03:00 (045) +75

05:10-06:20 UT (01:10-02:20 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.73; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.16 hr
SDA: ten: +1; +2; +3; +4(3); +5(2); +6(2)
PER: three: -5; +1; +6
CAP: three: +2(2); +5
ANT: two: -1; +6
NDA: one: +2
PPS: one: +3
Sporadics: two: 0; +4
Total meteors: Twenty-two

06:45-07:45 UT (02:45-03:45 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.75; facing SE50 deg; teff 1.00 hr
SDA: four: +2; +3; +4; +6
PER: four: 0; +1; +3; +4
ERI: two: 0; +2
Sporadics: five: +3; +4(2); +5(2)
Total meteors: Fifteen

07:45-08:35 UT (03:45-04:35 EDT); clear; 3/5 trans; F 1.00; LM 6.47; facing SE50 deg; teff 0.83 hr
PER: four: -2; +1; +2; +5
SDA: two: +1; +4
CAP: two: +2; +4
GDR: one: 0
Sporadics: three: +3; +5; +6
Total meteors: Twelve