(meteorobs) Re: Major Shower Peaks?

[Bruce McCurdy]

Mikhail wrote:


> I think, despite the Moon, some special attention is needed to the
> Lyrids this year. From Esko Lyytinen's calculation 1 rev. trail in
> April 2005 should be at 0.0017 AU from Earth. It is fairly close,
> also, there is a possibitity of older trails encounters (not computed
> by Esko). In SOME past similar cases Lyrids gave outbursts with
> ZHRs up to 100, why not this year? There no garanteees, of course,
> also the Moon will disturb greatly, but any somewhat significant
> enhancement should be seen even in these unfavorable conditions.

    What is the predicted time of the Lyrid peak? Observer's Handbook 2005 
(RASC) puts it at 10h UT, quite good for people like me in western North 
America, but experience with Leonids has taught that encounters with 
specific trails can be quite different than "traditional" peaks.

    The Moon will "disturb greatly" no matter what. For planning purposes it 
will be close to Jupiter, in fact parts of the world will see an occultation 
later on April 22nd.

    regards, Bruce