Perseid report, August 13, 2010

The sky appeared to be a little more hazy tonight than last night, but it was still cloudless with a limiting magnitude of perhaps 4. I was outside at about 1:50 AM once again, and the Perseids presented its best meteors at the start of my observing. At 1:57 AM, a bright meteor of magnitude 0 shot through the heart of Perseus, leaving a glowing trail that persisted for 3-4 seconds. Three minutes later, a similar meteor laid a trail which glowed for 2-3 seconds. A brief gap ensued, but then I saw three moderately bright meteors within a span of two minutes. The first occurred at 2:09 AM and flared to a bright magnitude 1, followed by two of about magnitude 2.5. The rest during tonight's 30 minute observation are as follows:

Time/magnitude

2:12/3.0

2:16/1.5 -- this one was very short in length, covering not much more than a single degree as it must have been coming almost directly toward me.

2:17/3.0

2:21/2.0 -- I really noticed the speed of this one as it raced far from the radiant through Delphinus and Aquila in about 1/3 of a second. A typical satellite orbits the planet at a leisurely pace of about 7 kilometers per second. Not only are the Perseids traveling about 8 times faster, they are much closer to me. Both of those factors as well as the perspective of this particular one added up to an astounding visual speed.

Even though I kept my observations for the last two nights brief, I was treated to some nice meteors. I'll look forward to the Perseids again next year. Before that, though, there are the Leonids in November and the Geminids in December! But for now, it's off to bed.