(meteorobs) Re: Observing Helion Meteors?

[Robert Lunsford]

David and All,

I was waiting for some others to voice their opinions but I guess there are 
none forthcoming. So, here are my thoughts:

The helion radiant would be located along the ecliptic approximately fifteen 
degrees west of the sun. I would assume the best time to see such meteors 
would be when the ecliptic has the steepest angle during the morning hours. 
This would be near the autumnal equinox in September for the Northern 
Hemisphere and the vernal equinox in March for the Southern Hemisphere. I 
have seen a few "earthgrazers" late in the morning but I cannot recall if 
any traced back to this prospective radiant. I have never really attempted 
to look for such activity. The only thing close are the Arietids of early 
June, which is a true shower in itself. Even this strong shower has produced 
much less than one meteor per night for me.

It would be an interesting project and perhaps some video observers could 
also add this radiant to their list of potential targets. I would expect 
rates to be quite low, much lower than the disappointing rates I was getting 
for the apex sources.

Clear Skies!

Robert Lunsford


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "David Entwistle" <david.entwistle at dial.pipex.com>
To: <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 5:58 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Observing Helion Meteors?


> Hello,
>
> I'm enjoying re-reading Robert Lunsford's excellent article in June 2004
> WGN, 'Fundamentals of meteor science - The anthelion radiant'.
>
> The article describes the anthelion source in detail, but the helion
> source is only mentioned briefly as follows, 'The helion radiant lies
> too close to the Sun for visual observing'.
>
> I appreciate that meteors from a radiant close to the Sun will be
> difficult to observe visually. However, given radiant-shift due to apex-
> attraction and the size of the helion radiant, I'm curious to know if
> this is actually impossible.
>
> If it is possible, what would be the most favourable location and time
> of year? Has anyone seen any long earth-grazing meteors in the morning
> twilight, that may from the helion radiant?
> -- 
> David Entwistle