(meteorobs) possible shower around the equinox

metpaper at Safe-mail.net metpaper at Safe-mail.net
Tue Sep 20 16:32:17 EDT 2011


Given that people may be on the lookout for meteors etc anyway over the next few nights because of this uars object breaking up...

I've got a paper in submission with the wgn at the moment and part of it notes a potential shower around the autumnal equinox and I've asked permission to note the following generalities from it here.

There's some evidence for bright objects, bright naked eye but not necessarily fireballs, a handful in each of 2007, 2008 and 2009 from public video data, constituting a possible shower about the time of the September equinox.

In 2007 there were three around 21st Sept at 2.8 to 4h UT, in 2008 on the 23rd, three again at 1 to 2.5 hr UT (remember 2008 is a leap year, but still that's more than the "one day later") and in 2009 three yet again between 3.1 and 3.8h UT on the 21st, plus a few others not quite as "clustered".  No idea about any objects fainter than 2nd to 3rd magnitude, nor the full naked eye magnitude distribution.

I didn't get my act together quick enough in terms of writing and submitting the paper for this info to appear timely enough for this shower, given any paper acceptance, so this is a quick note here.

Radiant lies between gamma Orionis and the arc of pi Orionis stars, lying nearer the latter.  At present it goes under the tentative name of the September pi Orionids, which of course mustn't be shortened to spo!!!

Speedwise we're talking amongst the fastest.

Downside is the last quarter moon, not even fifteen degrees away on the morning of the 21st.

Cheers

John

John Greaves


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