(meteorobs) Perseids and Aurigids

[Peter Jenniskens]

Meteorobs readers,

An observing campaign is gradually coming together for
this year's Aurigid outburst on September 1. We hope
to have a test flight during the Perseids. The mission
website is at:

http://aurigids.seti.org/

It has a usefull java applet to calculate the expected
Perseid and Aurigid rates from your own observing site.

We hope that many living in the western parts of the 
continental
USA, Alaska, Hawaii, and in Mexico will try to photograph
the Aurigids with digital cameras and video camcorders,
using a small field of view and low f-number lenzes
to make the camera sensitivy enough for the meteors.
We would like to know what was the brightest Aurigid seen
during the outburst. Also, the red, green, and blue images
of each color picture can give some information about how
the meteoroids break, from the light curve for different
components of the light emitted by the meteor.

The Perseids are the best time to practice.

For more information, attached is an article by Jeremie 
Vaubaillon
and myself that appeared in the August 7 issue of EOS. The
September issue of Sky&Telescope has a nice article by Joe 
Rao.
Also, I believe that tomorrow Space.com will carry a 
story.


Dr. Peter Jenniskens

The SETI Institute
Carl Sagan Center