(meteorobs) Fwd: P73 meteor shower on the night of May 22–23? - keep looking in case

[Michael Boschat]

Hi:

Posted to an astro list:

Jack Drummond of the Starfire Optical Range predicts that debris 
previously shed by the comet could bring us a meteor shower on the 
night of May 22–23. He writes:

"The closest approach of [Fragment C's] orbit to the Earth, 0.04 
astronomical unit, occurs on May 22 at 20:00 UT. Thus the maximum of 
the meteor shower would be on May 22 or May 23, with a radiant of right 
ascension 208° [13h 52m] and declination +30° [in Canes Venatici, 12° 
north-northwest of Arcturus], and a geocentric velocity of 13.5 km/sec, 
which is quite slow." Unlike with many meteor showers, this radiant is 
highest in the sky as early in the night as 11 p.m. daylight saving time — 
so the meteors would be visible any time from dusk to dawn.

If the shower does peak around 20:00 Universal Time, that would be during 
evening for continental Europe,later at night for western Asia, and before 
dawn for Central and South Asia. But keep watch wherever you are; the shower, 
if any, could arrive many hours earlier or later than that.

-- 
Clear skies
===========
Michael Boschat
Royal Astronomical Society of Canada - Halifax Center 
Astronomy page:  http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~aa063