(meteorobs) Lyrid meteors and the ISS

[cookewj at comcast.net]

Even though the April Lyrids are not noted for spectacular rates, the combination of a New Moon near the shower peak and a very favorable viewing geometry from the International Space Station (ISS) presents a unique opportunity to simultaneously image shower meteors from both the ground and from space. Through the appropriate channels, the NASA Meteoroid Environments Office (MEO) has communicated the Lyrid viewing circumstances to astronaut Don Petit on the ISS, who will attempt to image Lyrid meteors with onboard equipment near the shower peak. Even though this equipment was designed for tasks other than meteor observing, Don is a skilled amateur astronomer, and we have every confidence that he will maximize the chances of capturing a Lyrid from 400 km above Earth's surface. Feedback from the ISS is not immediate, but it is expected that we will receive in fairly short order the times that a meteor was observed from the station, to be followed in due course by the image/video of the event(s). 

The MEO is requesting that operators of meteor cameras, particularly all sky cameras, turn on their systems during the night of the Lyrid peak (April 21-22) to maximize the chances of simultaneous ground/ISS observations. We are asking that the operators transmit the times of the meteors observed by their cameras near the Lyrid peak so that we can correlate with the times of any events observed by ISS. Please send ONLY the times and approximate location of the camera; no video or stills are needed until after the correlations are made. We will send an email to the operator(s) requesting this additional data in the event of a match. 

The email address to use is: william.j.cooke at nasa.gov 

In addition, the MEO, with the cooperation of Dr. Tony Phillips, is planning to loft an experimental, low cost meteor camera/recorder payload by balloon from California; we would also like to correlate any observations from ground stations that have Bishop, California in their coverage area. 

Thank you for your help in trying to observe the Lyrids from the ground, the air, and space. Here's hoping for clear skies for us ground dwellers! 


Note: A graphic showing the ISS ground track near the time of the Lyrid peak is available at http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/Lyrids_ISS_22Apr0510UT.bmp 

Regards, 

Bill Cooke 
Lead, NASA Meteoroid Environments Office 
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