Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - August 2005 ===================================================== After the Leonid storm years are history, August has become the favourite month for meteor observers again. The Perseids cause an increase in activity starting from mid-July. In the first days of August they outnumber the sporadic meteors, and in the days around the maximum almost every camera records many tens or hundreds of meteors ... given the right lunar and weather conditions! This year, the lunar phase was perfect, but the weather was far from optimal at many sites. Interestingly, the conditions varied significantly at relatively nearby sites. At the Ketzuer observing camp near Berlin and in the far North (Finland) it was almost completely cloudy in the week around the maximum. Only a few observing hours could be collected in cloud gaps. In the second half of the month the weather improved significantly. In Bielefeld it was similar, but clear skies did not came back before the end of the month. In Bavaria, however, it was vice versa: Skies were clear up to the Perseid maximum, and only then poor weather with floodings near the major rivers came in. Even farther south in Slovenia the situation was similar. Stephen Evans, on the contrary, had remarkably good weather on "the island" and obtain a personal record with 18 observing nights. It should be noted, though, that his camera is now permanently mounted and does not have to be adjusted every night. In summary, August 2005 presented to every observer a few pleasing nights. With a record breaking participation of 9 observers an 15 cameras we recorded almost 6000 meteors, which is comparable to last year's result. A major weather change occured at the end of August, when a stable large-scale high pressure system establish over central Europe and presented many clear nights to almost every observer of the network. It almost seemed as if summer wanted to excuse for the rainy weeks before. What fascinated me most was the dramatic increase in the meteor rate these days. Shortly after the Perseid peak, when the shower was still active, AVIS2 recorded up to 150 meteors a night, whereas by the end of August it was well over 200. In the absence of major showers, this activity came almost exclusively from sporadic meteors! 1. Observers ============ Code Name Place Camera FOV LM Nights Time Meteors -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVAST Evans Moreton RF1 (1.2/12) 20 dg 4 mag 18 100.3 h 707 KACJA Kac Kostanjevec METKA (0.8/8) 42 dg 2 mag 9 58.5 h 417 KOSDE Koschny Noordwijkerh. ICC3 (0.85/25) 25 dg 6 mag 11 57.3 h 391 MOLSI Molau Seysdorf AVIS2 (1.4/50) 60 dg 6 mag 21 88.3 h 1859 MINCAM1 (0.8/6) 50 dg 3 mag 23 118.4 h 650 SLAST Slavec Ljubljana KAYAK1 (1.8/28) 50 dg 4 mag 13 52.4 h 343 STORO Stork Kunzak KUN1 (2.4/35) 30 dg 7 mag 1 2.7 h 6 KUN2 (2.8/16) 80 dg 5 mag 1 2.4 h 9 Ondrejov OND1 (1.4/50) 50 dg 6 mag 2 5.7 h 112 STRJO Strunk Leopoldshoehe MINCAM2 (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 22 88.7 h 304 MINCAM3 (0.8/8) 42 dg 4 mag 11 62.2 h 195 VK1 (0.75/50) 20 dg 8 mag 4 23.4 h 159 UEBST Ueberschaer Aachen MIMO (0.95/25) 13 dg 4 mag 19 104.0 h 386 MIMO2 (0.8/6) 50 dg 3 mag 2 4.6 h 61 YRJIL Yrjola Kuusankoski FINEXCAM (0.8/6) 55 dg 3 mag 12 37.1 h 243 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 31 806.0 h 5842 2. Observing Times (h) ====================== Aug 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVAST - - 5.5 - - 5.5 5.8 6.0 3.6 6.4 4.1 6.0 - 5.9 - KACJA - - - - 6.9 - 7.5 7.2 7.6 7.0 - 8.1 - - - KOSDE 4.1 - - - 3.5 - - - - - 2.1 4.2 - - - MOLSI 5.0 - - 0.3 - 4.8 2.0 2.5 - 0.7 0.8 - 1.9 - 4.5 5.2 - 0.3 7.3 - 6.3 4.0 4.6 4.0 7.7 6.8 0.2 3.9 4.3 - SLAST 5.8 - - 6.1 5.9 - 2.1 3.0 5.7 6.0 - 6.5 - - - STORO 2.7 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.4 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 2.6 - - - - - - - - - 3.1 - - - - STRJO 5.6 5.7 5.8 2.8 1.3 1.7 1.2 - 4.5 2.6 4.1 0.5 - 0.7 - 4.1 5.2 - - - - - - 1.9 1.0 - - - - - - - - 4.2 - - - - - - - - - - - UEBST - 4.7 7.2 4.3 - - - - 3.3 1.8 1.9 7.6 - - - - - - - - - - - - 0.9 - 3.7 - - - YRJIL - - - - - - - - - - - 1.0 - - - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 37.5 15.6 18.8 25.0 17.6 18.3 22.6 23.3 30.6 34.1 22.9 37.8 5.8 10.9 4.5 Aug 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVAST 4.9 6.4 - - 6.9 - 6.5 - 4.0 4.9 3.8 - 6.4 - 7.7 - KACJA - - 2.0 - - - - - - - - - - 6.1 - 6.1 KOSDE 5.7 6.2 - - - - 3.1 - - - - - 5.9 6.9 8.0 7.6 MOLSI 6.2 6.6 6.3 - 0.6 6.7 4.2 - 3.7 - 2.2 - 6.8 7.9 7.3 7.3 0.1 6.4 8.2 - - - - 2.3 4.8 0.8 5.5 - 8.8 8.9 9.0 9.0 SLAST - 2.7 2.2 - - - - - - 1.2 - - - 1.1 4.1 - STORO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STRJO 6.7 6.8 6.9 - 1.3 - - - 0.2 - 2.0 4.8 - 7.8 7.8 7.9 4.9 6.9 6.9 - - - - - - - - - 7.8 7.8 7.8 7.9 5.8 6.6 6.8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - UEBST 7.5 7.3 5.5 - - - 5.0 3.8 - 7.3 4.5 6.7 7.3 7.4 4.1 6.8 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YRJIL 1.1 2.1 3.9 4.0 2.1 - - - 2.8 5.4 2.2 1.9 - - 5.1 5.5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 42.9 58.0 48.7 4.0 10.9 6.7 18.8 6.1 15.5 19.6 20.2 13.4 43.0 53.9 60.9 58.1 3. Results (Meteors) ==================== Aug 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVAST - - 37 - - 49 52 69 17 70 57 99 - 26 - KACJA - - - - 41 - 32 59 67 35 - 169 - - - KOSDE 26 - - - 26 - - - - - 24 24 - - - MOLSI 98 - - 4 - 103 34 53 - 15 22 - 63 - 140 18 - 2 32 - 27 20 46 23 66 134 3 14 18 - SLAST 70 - - 77 74 - 3 22 15 20 - 44 - - - STORO 6 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 32 - - - - - - - - - 80 - - - - STRJO 15 17 20 16 4 8 5 - 14 11 11 2 - 4 - 8 22 - - - - - - 5 2 - - - - - - - - 37 - - - - - - - - - - - UEBST - 23 31 16 - - - - 10 8 15 54 - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 - 52 - - - YRJIL - - - - - - - - - - - 14 - - - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 282 62 90 182 145 187 146 249 151 236 343 461 77 48 140 Aug 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- EVAST 31 39 - - 28 - 24 - 15 17 12 - 40 - 25 - KACJA - - 2 - - - - - - - - - - 4 - 8 KOSDE 49 40 - - - - 10 - - - - - 45 46 46 55 MOLSI 153 122 66 - 4 62 41 - 31 - 19 - 174 241 224 190 1 22 41 - - - - 6 12 2 29 - 32 43 38 21 SLAST - 3 3 - - - - - - 1 - - - 6 5 - STORO - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - STRJO 28 22 20 - 4 - - - 1 - 6 18 - 29 28 21 20 22 23 - - - - - - - - - 19 25 26 23 45 57 20 - - - - - - - - - - - - - UEBST 20 28 21 - - - 5 13 - 28 11 18 23 19 16 27 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - YRJIL 7 12 36 38 9 - - - 8 24 5 7 - - 47 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sum 354 367 232 38 45 62 80 19 67 72 82 43 333 413 455 3811 Sirko Molau, 2005/09/13