(meteorobs) New meteor radar product - active meteor showers

[Bill Cooke]

The NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) is pleased to announce a new data product which meteor observers will find invaluable in determining which meteor showers are active based on real-time measurements. Using data gathered by the MEO-sponsored Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, meteor activity in near real-time is now plotted on starcharts for observers to immediately gauge actual meteor activity from their location in Eastern North America. These maps show both the number of meteor radiants recorded by the radar and the speeds of meteoroids from each recorded radiant as measured by CMOR during the previous 24 hour period plotted on a starchart. These starcharts also identify known meteor showers which the radar has detected as being active during the previous day. The starcharts update every 15 minutes showing both what stars and meteor radiants are visible and can be viewed by clicking on the radar link at:
 
http://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov
 
The sky chart plots are also augmented by Earth-centered plots - to toggle between these pages use the links at the top of the radar page. The Earth-centered plots show all meteor showers active throughout the day and their apparent strength from radar data. 

The radar detects meteors in the magnitude +6 to +8 range - sub millimeter particle sizes.

Regards,
Bill Cooke
NASA Meteoroid Environment Office