The Perseid Meteor shower 2022

At the weekend we had the maximum of the Perseid Meteor shower. The maximum was supposed to have occurred on the morning of Saturday 13th August but we didn't really have good clear skies until Sunday night. The moon at this time was only 2 days past full and so it was going to interfere with seeing the fainter meteors. I didn't do an official count but just went out to see what I could see. I was surprised to see quite a number (perhaps 10) over about an hour from about 11pm (BST). I also saw a few others which were either sporadics or other shower members. I think it helped that the moon was still rising at this time. I sat facing north east and perhaps the best meteors I saw passed through Ursa Major low over our house. There were three similar meteors that were pretty bright in this area with long trails. I suspect that they were all brighter than Jupiter (currently -2.7).

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2022

TX and AH Draconis

Over a week ago on the 7th August we had some clear skies and with the moon only two days past first quarter I thought I could have a go at getting an estimate of the brightness of TX and AH Dra. The moon was low in the sky in the south west at around 11pm (BST) when I went out to observe these stars. I began with TX as it is easy to find being near Eta Dra. I could, at 22:14 UT, see star P on BAA chart 106.03 which meant that my limiting magnitude with my 7x50 binoculars was fainter than 8.4. At 22:21 UT I found that TX was marginally brighter than N (=7.7 mag.) but fainter than K (=7.0 mag.). So my estimate was K(3)V(1)N which made TX magnitude 7.5 (to one decimal place). Note also that by this time astronomical twilight had ended.

Moving on to AH which is on the same chart at 22:31 I could see star 8 which again meant that my limiting magnitude was fainter than 8.4. At 22:37 I found that AH was marginally brighter than star 8 (=8.4 mag.) but fainter than star 6 (=7.8 mag.). My estimate was 6(2)V(1)8 which made it 8.2.

Both these estimates are again in good agreement with other observers from the BAA and AAVSO.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2022

CH Cyg, AC Her, Z and RY UMa

At this time of year we are starting to get proper dark skies again which are not affected by twilight. A week ago on the 29th July we had some clear skies up until just gone midnight and from then until about 2am (BST) twilight was absent. The moon was also only one day past new.

I was able to make some more observations of the variable stars CH Cygni, AC Herculis, Z and RY Ursae Majoris. Here is a brief summary of my observations using my 7x50 binoculars:-

• CH Cyg. 22:10 UT. Estimated to be fainter than A but brighter than W - A(1)V(3)W, mag. 6.7
• AC Her. 22:42 UT. Estimated to be fainter than C but brighter than D - C(1)V(1)D, mag. 7.2
• Z Uma.  23:14 UT. Estimated to be about the same brightness as L      - =L,        mag. 8.9
• RY UMa. 23:29 UT. Estimated to be fainter than 2 but brighter than 4 - 2(1)V(1)4, mag. 7.6
  

A little while after this the sky clouded up which seems to be the story of recent months. There doesn't appear to be any major discrepancies between my observations and those of other observers.

All text and images © Duncan Hale-Sutton 2022