by Jeffrey D. Gortatowsky
Yes clouds in Southern CA. High, thin, wispy, maddening, scud. The kind the lets you see all the stars brighter than say 3rd magnitude but with halos around them. And there were some large thicker banks that obscured more than that. At one point I doubt more than 20% of the sky was clear and most of that what on the northern horizon (though it was cool to watch on the horizon as you get more of a 'shower' effect). There were larger clear holes however, so that made my night much better than it otherwise might have been. We are blessed with 300 clear nights year. But last night wasn't one of them. :(
I shot a roll of 200ASA using five minute exposures with an Olympus OM1 and a 35mm f/2.8 lens mounted to the declination shaft of, and tracking on, my 600EGTO. Between 10UT and 11UT was quite something. The clearest areas kept shifting with the 80% thin cloud cover so it was hard to get an accurate count but at one point I saw 11 in a minute. One nice thing about this year's display is there was a very clearly defined radiant. Something I have not seen before.
Mostly I just sat back and enjoyed the show. It could have been better. But it was worth seeing nonetheless.
To Dave... remember, you are REALLY blessed because you see more each month than I do in a year. Why? Because for whatever reason, you get out almost any clear night you choose (or so it seems by your observing reports). I'm lucky to manage twice a month. It WAS a great display. But it was not the hailstorm I expected. At least not under my conditions.
As Rod would say, Peace.