(meteorobs) alpha Lyncids on Dec 21?

[Roberto]

Hi Malcolm,
I use the Mintron and with the objective from 8mm f/0.8 I see stars of mag.
5.5/5.7 and meteors of mag 4/5 if average speed has one and near the
radiant. Perhaps he will be sufficient in order to see faint meteors.
Clear Skies,
Roberto Haver

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Malcolm J. Currie" <mjc at star.rl.ac.uk>
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2007 6:04 PM
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) alpha Lyncids on Dec 21?


> Yes I'm on this list.  Sorry that I didn't have time yesterday to
> respond.  My recollection was of medium-fast faint meteors, and a
> ballpark figure I had in mind when this question arose was 50-55 km/s.
>
> I'm not convinced that the earlier meteors from the Lynx region belong
> to the event of 1971 December 20.9.  However, seeing these earlier
> meteors had made me more attentive to activity from the region, and one
> certainly had to be attentive, as the flurry comprised only faint
> meteors.  Given the luminosity function, the bright moonlight, even if
> low in the north-west and the big increase of light pollution in the
> intervening 36 years will make for challenging observations.  I'd have
> to check my files, but the LM was probably around +6.8 that night.
>
> Given only one observer at one epoch, predicting a rate isn't possible.
> A ballpark would be 10-30 per hour.  The high population index means the
> limiting magnitude will be a big factor if a 1971-type event occurs on
> Friday.
>
> When I told Peter Jenniskens about this event, I was surprised that he
> could assign a far-comet outburst tag to it and include it in his
> papers.  BTW Robert Mackenzie had given them the 38 Lyncid moniker, so
> alpha Lyncids didn't ring bells.
>
> After so long I'd be delighted if my uncorroborated observations can be
> confirmed.  It's best suited to image-intensified video---the regular
> wide-field Mintrons might not go faint enough, although they do cope
> well in the presence of strong moonlight---or low-power binocular
> observations. For visual observations a good site is essential.  I
> recall seeing most of the meteors within 25 degrees of the radiant.
> Further from the radiant they'd be hard to detect visually.
>
> Malcolm Currie
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