TV observations of the 2018 Draconid meteor shower from Iceland

Abstract Several researchers predicted an outburst of the October Draconids in 2018, with the peak expected between 23:43 UT on October 8 and 00:14 UT on October 9. We observed the event from Husafell, Iceland, where conditions were favorable during the predicted peak time. As a result, we detected the appearance of a more active shower than expected. Three peaks were identified in the time variation of the meteor activity. The main peak occurred at 23:43 UT on October 8, with the estimated hourly rate (HR) reaching 54. This corresponds to a meteor flux of $9.9 \times 10^{-3}\, \mathrm{km^{-2}\, h^{-1}}$ for meteors brighter than +3.5 mag. Two additional sub-peaks were observed at 00:28 and 01:08 UT on October 9. The presence of three distinct peaks suggests a complex structure within the dust trail system. In addition to the main CCD observations, we also employed a complementary observation using a mirrorless digital camera with a high-sensitivity CMOS sensor. The resulting flux values agreed well with those from the CCD system, suggesting that such mirrorless setups may now offer a practical alternative for observing faint meteors.