(meteorobs) 2006 Perseids from Edmonton

[Bruce McCurdy]

"Infinity always gives me vertigo
and fills me up with grace."
        -- Bruce Cockburn ("Mystery")
***

    Every August the Perseid meteor shower attracts considerable interest 
among the public and in the media. This year I was tapped by the local CBC 
Radio One affiliate to do interview on the subject (as well as about the 
also-annual Mars-big-as-the-full-moon hoax and a promo about northern 
Alberta's soon-to-be-declared Dark Sky Preserve). Everything went well in 
the interview until the very close, when the genial host referred to me as 
"Bruce McCurdy of the Royal Astrological Society of Canada" !!

    So, how accurately did I cast the horoscopes for the 2006 Perseids? 
Pretty darn well in retrospect. For starters I passed on another rock solid 
forecast from avid astronomer and local meteorological guru Alister Ling 
that the only showers we would experience on Friday would involve raindrops, 
while Saturday night should be mostly clear.

    I was asked specifically about observing Perseids from Gallagher Park, 
where over 10,000 people would be attending the Edmonton Folk Music Festival 
until 12:30 a.m. on both nights. I cautiously predicted that given urban 
light pollution and the (relatively) early time of night that one might 
expect to see 5-10 meteors in an hour. And from a "dark" site, moonlight 
would reduce the number of meteors one might normally expect by about half, 
from one a minute to one every two minutes.

    Results:
    1) Score (another) one for Alister, with a deadly accurate forecast 
issued a couple of days before the peak.

    2) Since I was myself in attendance at EFMF, I observed for about an 
hour Teff between 22:00 and 23:30 local time. The rising Moon was hidden by 
the topography of the hill, but there were occasional bursts of stage lights 
and the ubiquitous candles being waved by many in the crowd. At the best 
moments I could barely make out the arc of mag 4.2 and 4.3 stars between 
Polaris and Kochab. In that hour I observed seven meteors, VERY nicely in 
the 5-10 range I had predicted. :)  All were Perseids. The first was faint, 
but all the rest were second magnitude or brighter, with three of them being 
in the low minuses. On at least three occasions I heard a nearby audience 
member exclaim at the same time I did, and I noticed a few people in my 
vicinity laying on their backs and gazing upwards. My favourite was a short 
zeroeth-mag streaker with a brief train through western Cassiopeia during 
the closing passages of Bruce Cockburn's beautiful "Mystery".

    3) After the music wound down for the night, I headed out to Blackfoot 
and joined a number of local astronomers in our traditional Perseid watch. 
Meteor observers in my immediate area included Cornelia Blunck, Arnold 
Rivera, and in the second hour, Alister Ling with a functioning timer watch. 
We also monitored for radio meteors using car FMs.
    We had two hours of clear skies between 0200 and 0400 local time (8h to 
10h UT). Moonlight reduced the limiting magnitude to a shade better than 
5.0, with the Cygnus Star Cloud just barely in evidence. Despite those 
limitations it was a very worthwhile session, as I recorded 59 Perseids 
(almost exactly one per two minutes!), 2 kappa Cygnids and 6 sporadics. I 
saw nothing from the southern radiants in Capricornus and Aquarius. There 
was a significant percentage of bright Perseids, including one with a 
brilliant explosion point that I estimated around -6, and left a 10-second 
train to the naked eye. Other trains were brief or nonexistent, no doubt due 
in part to the moonlight. A summary of my counts appears at bottom.

   After the clouds rolled in and the other observers rolled out, I caught 
sections of a spectacular fireball which lit up the clouds in the west. At 
that exact moment the radio erupted with a huge burst of highly-agitated 
signal which continued on for about a minute.

    All in all, a very enjoyable and worthwhile night despite its 
limitations. Unlike other showers where I pick my spots, this was my 19th 
consecutive year of observing the Perseid maximum; my personal counts have 
ranged from four to >400, but I have yet to be completely skunked by this 
most reliable -- and predictable! -- of meteor showers.

    Bruce
    *****

Observer: Bruce McCurdy
Location: Blackfoot Staging Area ~ 112.78° W., 53.54° N.
Date: 2006 August 13, 8h-10h UT
Teff = 2.0 hours
LM = 5.0 - 5.2
---------------------------------------------------- 
Hour 1
(15-minute bins)              PER    KCG   SPO

8h UT - 8:15                      7           1        1
8:15 - 8:30                        10          -         1
8:30 - 8:45                          4          1         -
8:45 - 9h                           10          -         -
----------------------------------------------------
                                          31          2        2
----------------------------------------------------
Hour 2
(10-minute bins)                PER      KCG   SPO

9h UT - 9:10                       4            -        1
9:10 - 9:20                          3            -        1
9:20 - 9:30                          7            -        1
9:30 - 9:40                          5            -        1
9:40 - 9:50                          5            -         -
9:50 - 10h                           4            -         -
----------------------------------------------------
                                         28            -         4
----------------------------------------------------

Totals                                59            2         6
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