(meteorobs) Interesting facts about meteor shower

Marco Langbroek marco.langbroek at wanadoo.nl
Thu Sep 2 08:17:36 EDT 2004


Larry,

Corrections for gravitational pull (a.k.a. zenith-attraction) are standard in
photographic multistation meteor orbit determinations. For very slow meteors it
can amount to a several degrees shift in the apparent radiant position. For fast
meteors, e.g. Perseids, it usually is under one degree. Likewise, corrections
are made for the earth's motion vector, and earth axis rotation (the latter
known as correction for diurnal abberation. In some instances, again slow
meteors, the latter can be about a degree).

I suggest you go to a library and consult some of the classic meteor astronomy
handbooks, e.g. Lovell's "meteor astronomy" (1954).

Most streams, inclusing all the major streams, were discovered from visual
observations. Many minor sttreams were discovered in photographic meteor orbit
catalogues.

- Marco

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Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society (DMS)
Leiden, the Netherlands
52.15896 N, 4.48884 E (WGS 84)

e-mail: meteorites at dmsweb.org
DMS website: http://www.dmsweb.org
priv. website: http://home.wanadoo.nl/marco.langbroek
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