(meteorobs) Comet P/2006 T1 (LEVY)

Skywayinc at aol.com Skywayinc at aol.com
Wed Oct 25 08:43:54 EDT 2006


In a message dated 10/25/06 5:23:16 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
marco.langbroek at wanadoo.nl writes:

<< Joe, you must have made a mistake. The theoretic radiant (based on orbital 
 elements from MPEC 2006-U32, 20 Oct) is at RA 328.5 (21h54m), dec. +56.6, 
which is in Cepheus. Very slow meteors, Vgeo 13.9 km/s. >>

Yes . . . thank you for the correction, Marco!  I actually did this "back of 
the envelope" calculation before going to bed (at around 2 a.m!) and have 
since discovered that the position previously given for Gemini was for where Comet 
P/2006 T1 would be if Earth and comet were to arrive at the nodal crossing 
point at practically the same time (my mind was probably envisioning such a 
possible scenario at the comet's next apparition in 2011-2012).

Now . . . having just awakened a little while ago (and with a clearer head) I 
can see where I went wrong.  My own corrected position for the theoretical 
radiant places it at RA 22h 06m, Dec. +60-degrees, which is about a degree to 
the north and west of Lambda Cephei.  So yes . . . these meteors should be 
called "Cepheids," not to be confused (as Roberto Gorelli pointed out) with the 
class of variable stars of the same name.

-- joe rao  


More information about the Meteorobs mailing list