On the 1998 Perseids in Poland

Visual observations of the 1998 Perseids are reported. Based on almost 900 hours of observing time collected by 35 observers, an activity profile from July 15 to August 25 is given. The maximum of activity with ZHR=52+-3 was noted during the night of August 12-13, 1998 (lambda=140.0). After averaging in shorter periods of time, the highest activity does not differ much from the mean level. The highest ZHR equal to 59+-8 was noted at lambda=139.96 (i.e., August 12.87 UT). This result is significantly lower that values obtained for the traditional maximum of the Perseids during previous years. That difference diminishes after adopting a zenith exponent gamma~1.4, which may suggest that, for the Perseid shower, the zenith exponent is larger than 1.0. The minimum value of the population index r equal to 2.08+-0.03, was obtained for the night of the maximum.