During the night of October 8 UT the Draconids produced an outburst of activity for observers on the eastern side of the Atlantic. Based on visual reports, the IMO’s live ZHR chart showed a peak ZHR of between 300 and 400 meteor per hour. The bright Moon and preponderance of faint Draconids meant the actual observed rates were much lower.
Here in AZ the show was over by the time night fell. In fact, not a single Draconid was seen by my camera system only hours after the outburst. Except for a single meteor observed the night before the outburst, this year’s Draconids were their usual meager self for me.
With the Draconids past us, we are now looking forward to the Orionids which should peak on the 21st. Already a few Orionids have been seen each night since the 4th.
Obs Date(UT) Time TOT SPO NTA STA ORI DAU OCA GIA EPC TUS 2011-10-09 10h 46m 38 27 0 4 4 3 0 0 0 TUS 2011-10-08 09h 03m 28 18 3 5 1 0 0 1 0 TUS 2011-10-07 03h 01m 18 14 1 1 2 0 0 0 - TUS 2011-10-06 06h 48m 20 14 2 0 2 1 1 - - TUS 2011-10-05 07h 10m 26 15 1 6 3 1 - - - TUS 2011-10-04 02h 34m 8 7 0 0 1 0 - - - TUS 2011-10-03 08h 18m 22 17 1 2 0 2 - - - SAL3 - SALSA3 camera in Tucson (Carl Hergenrother) ALLS - Near all-sky camera in Tucson (Carl Hergenrother) VIST - Visual observations from Tucson (Carl Hergenrother) VISH - Visual observations from Hermosillo (Salvador Aguirre) HERM - PARENI camera in Hermosillo (Salvador Aguirre) SDG - Camera in San Diego operated by Bob Lunsford Time - Total amount of time each camera looked for meteors TOT - Total number of meteors detected SPO - Sporadics (meteors not affiliated with any particular meteor shower) ANT - Antihelions NTA - Northern Taurids STA - Southern Taurids ORI - Orionids DAU - Delta Aurigids OCA - October Camelopardalids GIA - Draconids EPC - October Eta Piscids
The Transient Sky - Comets, Asteroids, Meteors 