The bright moon and a dusty atmosphere combined to keep meteor detections low last night. In fact, I picked up more birds and bugs illuminated by the moonlight then meteors last night. This will continue to be the case until the Moon is a few days past Full. So hopefully by the end of this week, rates will start ramping up again.
We are nearing the end of the window of visibility for the September Perseids (the shower that surprised us with an unpredicted outburst on Sept. 8/9). Luckily, another minor shower will become active in the next few days, the Delta Aurigids. Looking even further ahead, two of the better annual showers of the year will become active in late September and early October, the Taurids from Comet Encke and the Orionids from Comet Halley. I’ll post more on the specifics for all three upcoming showers over the next few weeks.
Date TotalTime TOT SPO ANT SPE
2008-09-15 UT 9h 51m 10 9 1 0
TOT – total # of meteors detected
SPO – Sporadics (meteors not affiliated with any particular meteor shower)
ANT – Antihelions (meteors coming from the opposition region, opposite the direction of the Sun)
SPE – September Perseids
The Transient Sky - Comets, Asteroids, Meteors 