(meteorobs) NAMN Notes: March 2005

Tue Mar 1 10:49:26 EST 2005

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NAMN Notes: March 2005
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Introduction:
NAMN Notes is a monthly newsletter produced by the North American Meteor
Network, and is available both via email, and on the NAMN website at:
http://www.namnmeteors.org

Contents:

1. March Meteor Activity...
2. Meteor Workshop at the IMC...
3. Polar Comet in March...
4. Reading for Snowy Nights...
5. Upcoming Meetings...
6. For more info...

1. March Meteor Activity...

March is a fairly quiet month for meteor observers - but the bright winter
skies will soon be gone, so enjoy them while you can. Spring is just around
the corner!

The delta Leonids (DLE), although having peaked back on February 24th, can
still be seen until about March 10th. These are slow meteors, with a
velocity of about 23 km per second, so will be fairly distinctive. ZHR
rates at maximum were about 2 meteors per hour, but rates in March will be
minimal. A map showing the radiant position can be found at
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal04.html#delta-Leonids

What is ZHR? ZHR refers to Zenithal Hourly Rate, and is the number of
meteors that an observer would expect to see in an hour, on average, if they
are observing under a dark country sky with no moon, and if the radiant, the
area in the sky where the meteors seem to come from, is directly overhead at
the 'zenith'.

The gamma Normids (GNO) reach a peak on March 13th, although can be seen
until about March 22nd. These are fast meteors, with a velocity of about 56
km per second. ZHR rates at maximum will be about 8 meteors per hour. With
a radiant about 30 degrees south of the top of the 'J' of Scorpius, this is
primarily a southern shower. According to the IMO, the International Meteor
Organization, "the shower badly needs more regular observation... in 1999
independent observations... suggested the peak may have fallen on March 17."
Observations are encouraged! A map of the shower radiant can be found at
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal05.html#gamma-Normids

The Virginids (VIR) started to become active about January 25th, and last
until about April 15th. These are almost slow meteors, at about 30 km per
second. ZHR rates are about 5 meteors per hour. Radiant positions
throughout the month of March are as follows:

Feb. 28 178 +3 ie. RA 11h 52.2m Dec +3
Mar. 10 186 +0 ie. RA 12h 24m Dec +0
Mar. 20 192 -3 ie. RA 12h 48m Dec -3
Mar. 30 198 -5 ie. RA 13h 12m Dec -5

These positions are from the IMO 2005 Meteor Shower Calendar, available
online at http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal05.html. It is very useful - print
yourself off a copy!

If you want to record data on these showers for the meteor researchers,
check out our NAMN Observing Guide for information on what to record. Our
Guide can be found at http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html. We record such
info as the time a meteor occurred, its magnitude (brightness), the shower
it belongs to, its speed, and other comments such as train left behind, or
color. General information to record includes such things as how dark your
perceived sky is (limiting magnitude), and comments on weather and cloud
cover. For estimating the brightness of the meteors you see, we have a
handy set of 4 star charts (set printer to 'landscape mode') at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html. If you have any questions, drop a
note to our NAMN Coordinator at meteors at comcast.net

Forms to record your observations can be found at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/namn_form.html and
http://www.namnmeteors.org/appendixC.html.

Besides March's main activity, and other minor showers, there is also
sporadic meteor activity - about 7 meteors per hour, visible to the unaided
eye. Some of these are random, and some belong to old untraceable meteor
showers.

Planets at midmonth, and their magnitudes, for northern observers, are:
Jupiter -2.4 in Virgo
Mercury -0.5 low in west in evening sky
Saturn 0.0 in Gemini
Mars 1.1 in Sagittarius

For a sky chart showing the positions of all the planets visible this month,
go to http://www.heavens-above.com, select your country, then your city, and
go to 'Whole Sky Chart'. On Saturday March 26th, Jupiter will be visible
1.0 degrees north of the moon - there will be an occultation visible from
the southern Indian Ocean, the southwest tip of Australia, and most of
Antarctica.

This month, the phases of the moon are as follows:
Thurs. Mar. 3 last quarter
Thurs. Mar. 10 new moon
Thurs. Mar. 17 first quarter
Fri. Mar. 25 full moon
For a great printout of moon phases for the month, check out
http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon

2. Meteor Workshop at the IMC...

This year, the IMO, the International Meteor Organization, is holding its
annual conference in Oostmalle, Belgium in September. Details are in our
'Upcoming Meetings' section.

The IMC is a wonderful opportunity to meet with other amateur and
professional meteor observers and researchers from around the globe. The
IMC has speaker and poster sessions, and lots of informal camaraderie.
And - where else can you meet many of the meteor enthusiasts from our
international 'MeteorObs' email list - in person!

This year, the IMO has something special planned, to coordinate with the
timing of the conference. There will be a special 'Radio Meteor School
2005' held in Oostmalle from September 10th to 14th, just prior to the start
of the regular conference on the 15th.

This will be a five day tutorial, in which Dr. Oleg Belkovich of Russia will
discuss the physical and mathematical theory of radio meteor observations.
This workshop is designed for serious radio meteor observers.

The cost for the workshop will be about 150 Euros. You must register for
the workshop before July 1st. For more information, check out
http://www.imo.net/imc2005/radioschool.php and contact the organizers at
imc2005 at imo.net

For the IMC conference itself, which runs from September 15th to 18th, the
cost is 120 Euros if you register by June 1st (130 Euros after). This cost
includes - conference registration, all accommodation, all meals (breakfast,
lunch and dinner) for the whole conference - and free transport to and from
airports or train/bus stations if needed. Refreshments in the evening will
be at minimal charge.

For more information on the 2005 International Meteor Conference, check out
the conference website at http://www.imo.net/imc2005

Plan to attend - it will be a very special year!

3. Polar Comet in March...

While you are out enjoying the last of our winter meteors, take a look at
Comet Machholz, discovered by American Don Machholz back in August.

During the month of March, it is in the northern polar sky, going through
the circumpolar constellations - from Cepheus to Draco. In fact, the comet
will be within 6 degrees of Polaris for more than a week around March 11th.

Coordinates and brightness estimates for March are as follows, courtesy
of the Sky and Telescope website at http://skyandtelescope.com:

Date RA Dec constellation mag.
Mar. 1 04h 07m +82 29 Cepheus 6.2
Mar. 11 07h 13m +84 52 Camelopardalis 6.7
Mar. 21 10h 07m +82 18 Camelopardalis 7.1
Mar. 31 11h 12m +77 39 Draco 7.6

Comet Machholz is visible with binoculars. To find out about other comets
visible with amateur sized telescopes, check out the following websites:

Greg Crinklaw's 'Skyhound':
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html

Seiichi Yoshida's 'Weekly Information about Bright Comets':
http://www.aerith.net/comet/weekly/current.html

Comet Section of the BAA, British Astronomical Association:
http://www.ast.cam.ac.uk/~jds/

4. Reading for Snowy Nights...

While cruising around the website of the BAA, the British Astronomical
Association (of which this lady Canadian observer used to be a member
decades ago), I discovered some good reading for snowy winter nights.

The BAA has a number of their Journal articles online at
http://www.britastro.org/main. These can be read online, or printed off
from the pdf format. Following are some of the meteor and comet articles
that caught my attention, and the issues that they are in:

- Visual Observation of Meteors, by Neil Bone - Aug. 2004
- Notes on the pro-am discussion meeting on Meteorites, Meteors and Comets,
by Jonathan Shanklin - Feb. 2004
- Visual Observation of Comets, by Jonathan Shanklin - June 2004
- Imaging Comets, by Martin Mobberley - Oct. 2003
- Observing Near Earth Asteroids, by Roger Dymock - Feb. 2005
- An Introduction to Astrometry, by Nick James - Feb. 2004

Neil Bone, who provided us with information on the upcoming Meteor Section
meeting in the U.K., also has a regular section called 'Sky Notes' on the
BAA Journal site. The latest issue can be found online in the Feb. 2005
Journal.

5. Upcoming Meetings...

April 16, 2005, Britain...
The Meteor Section of the BAA, the British Astronomical Association, will
hold a meeting at the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester, West Sussex.
It will be an all day session, with a series of talks on meteors - from
Leonid results to 2005 Perseids and beyond. Confirmed speakers to date
include Dr. John Mason, Alex Pratt, Steve Evans, and Neil Bone. For more
information, contact Neil Bone, Director BAA Meteor Section at
neil at bone2.freeserve.co.uk

August 7-12, 2005, Brazil...
ACM 2005, the IAU Symposium 229: Asteroids, Comets, Meteors, will be held
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main topics of the conference will be space
missions, internal structure of asteroids and comets, connections between
asteroids, cometary nuclei and Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNO's), connections
between asteroids and meteorites, connections between comets, meteor showers
and interplanetary dust, minor body dynamics, collisions and impacts,
Near-Earth Objects (NEO's), origin and evolution of our Solar System and
extra-solar planetary systems. The website for the conference is at
http://www.on.br/acm2005. For more information, contact Daniela Lazzaro or
Fernando Roig at acm2005 at on.br

September 10-14, 2005, Belgium...
'Radio Meteor School 2005' will be held in Oostmalle, Belgium. This will be
a five day tutorial on the physical and mathematical theory of radio meteor
observations, given by Dr. Oleg Belkovich of Russia. This workshop is for
serious radio meteor observers. The cost for the workshop is about 150
Euros. You must register before July 1st. For more information, check out
the IMO website at http://www.imo.net/imc2005/radioschool.php and contact
the organizers at imc2005 at imo.net

September 15-18, 2005, Belgium...
The 2005 IMC, International Meteor Conference of the IMO, the International
Meteor Organization, will be held in Oostmalle, Belgium. Oostmalle is about
70 km north of Brussels, and about 30 km northeast of Antwerp. The
conference is being organized by Urania, the public observatory of Antwerp.
Accommodation will be at the Provinciaal Vormingscentrum Malle, with an
excursion to the city of Lier. This is a great opportunity to meet and
chat with meteor observers from all around the globe - so mark it on your
calendar now, and plan to attend! The participation fee is 120 EUR before
June 1st (130 EUR after), and includes all accommodation, all meals, and the
conference registration. Financial assistance is available in some cases.
For information, check out the conference website at
http://www.imo.net/imc2005. For questions, contact Jan Verbert at
imc2005 at imo.net

For information on upcoming astronomy meetings, see: "International
Astronomy Meetings List" at http://cadcwww.hia.nrc.ca/meetings

6. For more info...

NAMN email: namn at namnmeteors.org
NAMN website: http://www.namnmeteors.org

Mark Davis, meteors at comcast.net
Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network

Cathy Hall, chall at cyberus.ca
Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada
Writer, NAMN Notes

Lew Gramer, dedalus at alum.mit.edu
Medford, Massachusetts, USA
Coordinator, Public Outreach
Owner/Moderator, 'MeteorObs'

Kevin Kilkenny, namnfireball at earthlink.net
Staten Island, New York, USA
Coordinator, Fireballs and Meteorites

Back issues of NAMN Notes can be found online at the NAMN website and in
the MeteorObs archives at:
http://www.meteorobs.org by selecting 'Browse Archive by Month'

To subscribe to the meteor email list:
Contact Lew Gramer at: dedalus at alum.mit.edu

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Here's to 'Clear Skies' for March...

March 2005 NAMN Notes
written by Cathy Hall & edited by Mark Davis
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