(meteorobs) One for the Solstice...

[metpaper at Safe-mail.net]

The mornings around the Solstice, when people may well be out and about looking for Ursids, there's a chance in the early hours of meteors from a shower laying generally between sigma and tau Virgini.  The paper's still at the submitted stage for this one so can't say much more than that, and pending final publication this would apparently receive the IAU affirmed MDC name, code and number December sigma Virginids, DSV, 428.  Has hints of being a year on year performer, spread out over a few days, with sometimes a small clustering in a quite short time.  This one nicely has a parent body association, albeit not a "frequently repeating" one.  Moon's nearby but very nearly new.

Whilst I'm mentioning it, and lest I forget, latest Jan / earliest Feb there'll also be the alpha Coronoae Borealids, ACB, 429, though that might've been just a recent one year burst/enhancement in terms of ready observability.  Dunno.

Cheers

John

John Greaves