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Observation reports - Melton Mobray ...
Reading about other people's experiences at the eyepiece of a telescope
often inspires us to view the glory of the night sky. Go forth and explore
...!
Remember, don't forget to send your observing reports to observations@maccastro.com.
08/08/05
- Daytime Perseid?
t about 18:45 this evening I was looking at the Sun through my binoculars
to check on the sunspots, using Baader filters on the lenses of course.
After a minute or two to my amazement I saw a meteor trail go from right
to left (north to south) below the Sun and almost parallel to the
horizon. I say it was a meteor trail because it had all the characteristics
such as short duration and bright termination within my field of view,
and at this stage I can think of no other explanation. I'm sure it was
not an optical illusion, and caused me to exclaim 'Bloody hell, what was
that?' much to Joan's consternation as she was just enjoying her al fresco
drink in the evening Sun. I might add that my drink was non alcoholic
!
As the Baade filters cut out 99.99% of the sun's light it must have been
a very bright meteor. In discussion with Andrew immediately after the
event we agreed that its direction would favour a Perseus origin as that
constellation would be just about rising at this time.
I'd be pleased to receive any comments or observations on this event.
Stanley O'Neil (click here
to e-mail comments)
13/08/07
- 2007 Perseids
We had a great Perseids show. From 23:00 to 0320 the sky was mainly crystal
clear, with occasional fast moving thinnish cloud coming through.
Over this period Tony and I saw about 65 meteors, of which, surprisingly
to me, about ten I would say were sporadics. These definitely appeared
from directions with no relationship with Perseus, indeed some were going
directly towards it.
The Perseids themselves came in a variety of intensities and colours.
Some of them actually arose in Perseus itself, including a little cracker
which was like a firework going off right in the middle of the three main
stars of the constellation.
Seven of them were really bright and left trails, the brightest being
at 03:10 which whizzed away towards the west under Polaris with a green
trail persisting for 6 or 7 seconds.
There were periods in which we got two per minute for two or three minutes,
then nothing for several minutes after.
Some of the fainter ones were as interesting as the bright ones. One ran
parallel to the three Perseus stars for just a brief time, but was a soft
bluish/violet colour.
Did I catch one on camera ? Well, in spite of taking 60+ images, I'm not
too optimistic, but I won't be sure till I've looked at them all.
I certainly have lots of pictures of pretty, well focused stars. I exposed
the majority for 30 secs only, as I found that at 45 secs I was getting
skyglow particularly when there was cloud in the vicinity reflecting sodium
lighting. I'll send you an image or two when I've reviewed them.
Tony really enjoyed the night and said that he'd never seen so many meteors.
He was also impressed with my dark sky! He had his camcorder running for
part of the time but was doubtful whether he caught any meteors.
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 July and August updates ...
The bright twilight nights are slowly giving way to darker skies and the prospect of revealing a little-known nightly sight. Away from the towns and cities, the Milky Way will soon be glimpsed meandering through the constellation of Cygnus. This river of stars was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians ... Nowadays, especially when we approach the end of Summer, it's astronomers that turn their gaze skyward and praise the sight of a myriad of stars arching high above them.
The following sections have been updated: This month's night sky and observations.
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