Greetings again all,
      It seems like I have been writing about the Perseids for months now and they haven’t even reached their maximum yet!  Both Brenda Branchett and I were out again, me at Matanzas Inlet and she in Deltona to monitor the build up of the 2016 Perseids.
     Once again Mother Nature cooperated with us beautifully with gorgeous pre-dawn skies and PER rates were around 30 an hour with a few nice bright ones included.  All the other active sources continue to produce some nice meteors also, making for a really enjoyable experience out there.
Here’s my results:
CAP – alpha Capricornids
ERI – eta Eridanids
ANT – Anthelions
PER – Perseids
SDA: South delta Aquariids
PAU – Piscids Austrinids
NDA: North delta Aquariids
KCG: kappa Cygnids
BPE – beta Perseids
Session One:
August 7/8 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). LM: 6.7, Clear, Facing: west
0325 – 0425 EDT (0725 – 0825 UT), Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks
25 PER: -1(2) +1(2), +2(5), +3(8), +4(4), +5(4)
2 SDA:  +2, +4
1 NDA: +3
1 CAP: +4
1 PAU: 0
2 ERI: +2, +3
9 SPO: +2(2), +3. +4(3), +5(3)
41 total meteors
11 of the 41 meteors (7 PERs, 1 SDA, 1 PAU, 1 ERI and 1 SPO) left trains. Yellow and blue tints were seen in the brighter PERs and the SDAs.
Session Two:

August 7/8, 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).

 

0425 – 0525 EDT (0825 – 0925 UT) Teff: 1.0 hour, No breaks, LM: 6.9, Clear, except for some very slight haze near the horizons, facing: west

28 PER: -1, 0, +1(3), +2(5), +3(9), +4(7), +5(2)

1 SDA: +2

2 NDA: +2, +4

1 ERI: +3

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

42 total meteors

13 of the 42 meteors left trains (10 PERs, 1 SDA and 2 SPO), a couple of the PERs were bluish and a couple were yellowish as usual..;o). 

Brenda battled cloud problems but did manage one hour out down in Deltona and as usual, saw a few more PERs during that hour than I did…;o). 

Here’s her data:

Location:  Deltona, Fl.
Time:  4:15-5:15 a.m. EDT (0815 – 0915 UT)
Sky visible: 60-70 percent
Sky Conditions:  4.5-5.0 Mag visible
Perseids — 31
Sporadics — 4
SDA  — 2
CAP  –1
ERI — 1
KCG  — 2
Total — 41
Satellites — 5
Had a minus 3 SDA and a minus 1 Perseid.  Otherwise, mostly 2nd and 3rd mag visible. Overall, nothing very impressive except for that minus 3 of course! Very few trains, averaging 10 degrees.
Its amazing how consistent in activity level the PERs have been the last few mornings.  It’s almost as if they are in Cruise Control or something…;o).
More later, Paul J in North Florida