(meteorobs) Handbook for Visual Meteor Observers

Jeff Wilson meteortrain at peoplepc.com
Tue Mar 22 19:59:44 EST 2005


I would definitely like a copy, as Im sure you know entire books on the
subject are a rarity.  I cant help but be curious as to whether or not Sky
Publishing was one of the publishers you tried and got a negative response.

Jeff W.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Bias, Peter V" <pbias at flsouthern.edu>
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 10:28 AM
Subject: RE: (meteorobs) Handbook for Visual Meteor Observers


Hi all,

Given the current interest in the IMO Handbook, I think that this is an
appropriate time to introduce a book on meteors that is soon to be
available.  With some help from several renowned meteoricists, I have
put together a book that for the most part complements the Handbook
rather than replaces it.  Chapters (with a hint of what is in them)
include: Introduction (what meteors are, physical process), Basics of
Naked Eye Observing (e.g., why we see many more meteors as the radiant
rises, the radiant effect), More Advanced (plotting, etc.), Some
Important Meteor Showers, A History of Meteorics before IMO, Recent
History--A Dawn in Meteorics (dust trails and far-comet outbursts),
Meteor Stream Formation and Dynamics (how dust trails are formed, solar
radiation effects) Zenithal Hourly Rates and Stream Density (ZHR
forecasting models are explained), Factors Influencing Radiant Positions
(the components that will change the vectors), Meteor Streams and
Cometary Orbits (how to read meteor stream orbital elements), and A
Meteor Potpourri (e.g., are meteors random within a shower, anomalous
meteors)
The book is over 200 pages and has numerous color diagrams to help
explain the topics.
The unfortunate reality is that no publisher would bite on this book as
they felt that there would be little to no market for it.  Therefore, I
am forced to self-publish.  I am currently working on the subject index
and name index now that the text is complete and hope to have it
available soon.  Right now I have no idea what it will cost to produce
so I quote a price.  I'll let you know when I do.
Perhaps this text will be interesting to some meteorobs readers?

Pete Bias
Florida Southern College

-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of David Entwistle
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2005 2:52 AM
To: Arlene Carol; Global Meteor Observing Forum
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Handbook for Visual Meteor Observers

In message <ae26d61505032203515377a1bc at mail.gmail.com>, Arlene Carol
<arlene.carol at gmail.com> writes
>Okay, in light of this 'straight from the horse's mouth' as it were,
>shall I abandon the search or is someone still interested?
>No replies within the next 24-48 hours tells me that no one's
>interested so we'll stop searching, okay?
>
>thanks,
>
>arlene
>south of troy
>

Many thanks to all the other posters on this subject.

In answer to Arlene's question, I would still be very interested, if
there is a paper copy of 'The Handbook' available out there. However, it
does seem that copies are in very short supply and any currently
available copies (if there are any) will not meet the demands of future
meteor enthusiasts.

I agree that the idea of making the 'handbook' available, for download
from the IMO web site is an excellent idea and the way to go.

In the meantime, is there any other book, aimed at visual meteor
observers, that covers the material in 'The Handbook'?

Thanks again for your interest.

--
David Entwistle
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