It was 1 year ago tonight that the July gamma Draconids produced an impressive outburst over Europe. If any such occurrence were to repeat in 2017, it would most likely occur over North America near 6UT. I went out with little anticipation and that is exactly what I saw. Only 2 GDR’s appeared during 2 hours centered on 6UT. I was actually surprised I caught 2 of them! The first one was slightly brighter than Deneb and shot past that star in Cygnus. The second was of 3rd magnitude and shot through the head of Draco. “Shot” may be an incorrect description as both of these meteor were fairly slow. Both evening hours produced 6 meteors each with a nice variety as you can see below. The sky appeared nice, more impressive than the limiting magnitude would indicate. After a short nap, I turned toward the south to view the activity there. Conditions had changed drastically for the worse. it was very hazy with clouds to the south and west. The clouds held back for 30 minutes but soon obscured the sky during the 3rd quarter of the hour. Looks like I’ll need to make a trip to higher elevations if I am to see the SDA’s at their best.

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Observer: Robert Lunsford (LUNRO)
Date: 17- Jul 28 Mean Solar Long: 125.127
Beginning Time (UT) 0500 Ending Time (UT) 0700
Total TeFF: 2.75LOCATION: Blossom Valley, CA, USA
LONG: 116 51′ 37″ W LAT: 32 51′ 44″ N
Elevation: 304 m Bortle Scale: Class 4: Rural-Suburban Transition
Beginning Temperature/Relative Humidity: 70F-76%
Ending Temperature/Relative Humidity: 67F-86%
METHOD: Visual Recording using audio recording device
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Showers Observed                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                ANT  20:16 (317) -16   00-01-00    1 Total                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         CAP  20:16 (304)  -10   00-01-01    2 Total                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          GDR  18:40 (280) +50   01-01-00    2 Total
PER  01:40 (025) +54   00-00-01    1 Total
SDA  22:36 (339) -17   02-00-02    4 Total
SPO                                03-03-02     8 Total
Hourly Counts              06-06-06  18 Total
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Period 1   0500-0600 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds)   Mean LM 6.09
FOV 270 +60   TOTAL TeFF: 1.00
Mean Solar Long: 125.099

METEOR DATA: GDR 1, SDA 2, SPO 3  TOTAL 6

Magnitude Distribution

GDR  +1 (1)  Mean +2.50                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     SDA  +1 (1) +3 (1) Mean +2.00                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            SPO  +2 (1) +3 (1) +4 (1)  Mean + 3.00

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Period 2   0600-0700 UT
F = 1.00 (0% Clouds)   Mean LM 6.04
FOV 285 +60   TOTAL TeFF: 1.00
Mean Solar Long: 125.139

METEOR DATA: ANT 1, CAP 1, GDR 1, SPO 3  TOTAL 6

Magnitude Distribution

ANT  +3 (1)  Mean +3.00                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      CAP  -1 (1)   Mean -1.00                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      GDR  +3 (1)  Mean +3.00                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       SPO  +2 (1) +4 (2)  Mean + 3.33

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Period 3   0900-0945 UT
F = 1.11 (10% Clouds)   Mean LM 5.18                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               FOV 330 +00   TOTAL TeFF: 0.75
Mean Solar Long: 125.255
METEOR DATA: CAP 1, PER 1, SDA 2, SPO 3  TOTAL 6
Magnitude Distribution
CAP +4 (1)  Mean +4.00
PER +2 (1)  Mean +2.00
SDA +2 (1) +3 (1) Mean +2.50
SPO +1 (1) +2 (1)  Mean +1.50
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Total Magnitude Distribution

ANT +3 (1)  Mean +3.00
CAP –1 (1) +4 (1)  Mean +1.50
GDR +1 (1) +3 (1)  Mean +2.00                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           PER  +2 (1) Mean +2.00
SDA  +1 (1) +2 (1) +3 (2)  Mean +2.25
SPO  +1 (1) +2 (3) +3 (1) +4 (3)  Mean + 2.75