Lew & Karen's Home Page


What is meteorobs?

Email Access to meteorobs

History of meteorobs

Search meteorobs Archive...

Browse Archive by Month...

Frequently Asked Questions

Meteor-Related Links

How to View Meteor Showers

METEOR STORMS (Leonids etc.)

Going Deeper: Telescopic Meteors

MeteorObs -
an Internet forum for meteor observers of all levels


+ Showers, Storms and **THE LEONIDS** + General Meteor-Related Links + Meteor Observing Links + Other (Non-Meteor) Astronomy Links + And in particular: METEORITES!

Shower, Storm and Leonids Links

The following links will provide you with detailed information on the annual November meteor shower called the "Leonids", as well as interesting accounts and scientific details about the exciting Leonid outburst events of 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, and 2002!
If you would like to learn more about past and possible future METEOR STORMS,please see the following Web page:
http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html

The above "Meteor Storms" page contains a compilation of all the critical Web links and resources, compiled as of mid-October 2002. This page is worth extensive browsing: try to follow as many of these links as you can, if you wish complete information on the Leonids!

To learn more about the reliable annual events called "meteor showers", including the major one each November known as the Leonids, see:
http://www.meteorobs.org/showers.html

Here is a set of other sites providing much more detail about the theory of meteor storms, the realistic prospects for seeing an outburst from the Leonids, and how to watch for such an outburst should it occur!
http://www.imo.net/news/leohints.html (Mirror is here.)
http://www.imo.net/leo02/ (Mirror is here.)
http://star.arm.ac.uk/leonid/
http://leonid.arc.nasa.gov/
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/leonids.html
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/meteors

Meteor-Related Links

A great starting point for learning more about meteors in
general is Gary Kronk's "Comets and Meteor Showers" Page at:
    http://comets.amsmeteors.org


You can also quickly learn more about meteors by chatting with meteor
observers! If you have access to Internet Relay Chat or "IRC", you
can access the channel "#namn" on server "irc.dal.net" at these times:
EASTERN TIME:              UNIVERSAL (GREENWICH MEAN) TIME:
 Every Monday, 8:00pm       Every Tuesday, 1:00am (12:00am in Summer!)
 Every Saturday, 11:00am    Every Saturday, 4:00pm (3:00pm in Summer!)

Why not download an IRC client for your own PC or Mac!


Anomalous Meteor Phenomena - Philip M. Bagnall

http://www.meteorobs.org/bagnall/amp.htm
Mr. Bagnall's wonderful summary of the more intriguing meteor phenomena occasionally reported by even the most experienced observers, looked as it had disappeared from the Internet - but I have attempted to rescue it at least temporarily, in this mirror on meteorobs.org... I have also rescued Mr. Bagnall's slightly outdated, but still highly readable Meteor Observer's Calendar: http://www.meteorobs.org/bagnall/meteors.htm Finally, a link to his Meteorite pages are preserved in the Meteorites section of this Links page (below).
Here are contacts for people interested in OBSERVING meteors:
The North American Meteor Network: Contacts: NAMN Staff <namn@namnmeteors.org> Mark Davis <meteors@comcast.net> Lew Gramer <dedalus@alum.mit.edu> http://www.namnmeteors.org International Meteor Organization: Contacts: Robert Lunsford <secretary@imo.net> Rainer Arlt <rarlt@aip.de> Sirko Molau <sirko@molau.de> http://www.imo.net IMO has authoritative introductory materials for visual observers: http://www.imo.net/visual (Mirror is here.) Note that IMO's Web site has a mirror as well, if the above is unavailable: http://www.amsmeteors.org/imo-mirror The American Meteor Society: Contacts: Robert Lunsford <lunsford@amsmeteors.org> Jim Richardson <richardson@amsmeteors.org> Dr. David Meisel, SUNY Geneseo, New York http://www.amsmeteors.org Visual observers in particular can browse two introductory pages: Introduction to Visual Meteor Observing Suggestions for Visual Meteor Observations The Dutch Meteor Society: Contacts: Hans Betlem general info <info@dmsweb.org> Olga van Mil - visual <visual@dmsweb.org> Marc de Lignie - video <video@dmsweb.org> http://www.dmsweb.org Of particular interest are both their visual and video observation pages to be found via links on the main page above. (NOTE: Be careful with this site if you are using an older Web Browser! It can crash Netscape 3 for example.) Slovenian Astronomical Society Orion: Contacts: Javor K and Jure A and Jure Z <adorion@email.si> http://www.orion-drustvo.si/ado.html This is an extremely active young group of meteor (and other) observers in Slovenia. Astronomsko Drustvo Orion were the sponsors of the 2001 IMC [International Meteor Conference], and are also very active in meteor outreach and education, sponsoring annual meteor observing camps for young people and new observers. Physics Association of the University of Aveiro: Contacts: Paulo Heleno <fisua@fis.ua.pt> http://sweet.ua.pt/~fisua/meteoros.htm For Portuguese speakers, this site maintained by the FISUA (Associacão de Fisica da Universidade de Aveiro) covers all the basics of meteor science and observing. The FISUA also have a Portuguese language mailing list called "Lusometeoros". Subscribe via the Web at: http://sweet.ua.pt/~fisua/mailing.htm Ankara Universitesi Astronomi Arastirma Toplulugu: Contacts: H. Tugca Sener <asart@asartonline.org> http://www.asartonline.org For observers in Turkey, there is an amateur meteor observing group which is called ASART. They are a group of students, active in both radio and visual meteor observing, based at Anakara University.

Other Astronomy Links


The 'meteorobs' list is intended exclusively for the
discussion of meteors and closely related topics. There
are several other mailing lists on the Net devoted to
topics of potential interest to meteor enthusiasts.

Also, if you are a person who just wants to "enjoy the
shooting star show" with friends and family on a dark,
clear night, there are some links below for you!

MeteorShowers - Announcement List for MAJOR Meteor Shower events
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MeteorShowers
This great email list is run by a 'meteorobs' reader, but unlike our list it's VERY LOW VOLUME. (Only a few emails per year!) Anyone who just wishes to receive a short "announcement" email telling them when a particularly rich meteor shower peak is about to occur, should subscribe to MeteorShowers. (Note that MeteorShowers is not a discussion list: only the administrator of the list may post to it!)
Spaceweather.com - News about meteor showers, aurorae, etc.
http://www.spaceweather.com
This is a wonderfully informative site, always kept up to date with the latest exciting activity in our near-earth environment! If you prefer to receive a few "alert" emails each month, about meteor showers aurorae (northern/southern lights), and similar fun events, Spaceweather also runs a public email list!
NASA Science News - Latest NASA research for the public
http://science.nasa.gov
Dr. Tony Phillips of NASA runs this wonderful site, which is updated daily with features and news items related to the very latest NASA Research. Tony has a particular interest in meteor showers, and getting the public involved in observing them. If you prefer to receive a few "alert" emails each month, the NASA Science News site also provides a public email list!
VIDEOASTRO - Video Astrophotography forum & resource
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/canterbury/222/astrovid.htm
Little mention of meteors(!) on this video astronomy forum, but discussions range over "video imaging with telescopes/wide field lenses, video cameras/recording equipment, image digitizing/processing, telescopes and lenses, solar, lunar and planetary astronomy"...
ASTRO - General Astronomy & Astrophysics Mailing List
Dr. Paul Rybsky, administrator
If you have ANY sort of general astronomy question, whether about which eyepiece to buy for your refractor or about how time distorts near black holes, the ASTRO list is for you! One warning though for new subscribers: thanks to it's non-specific nature, ASTRO is often extremely busy...
ShallowSky - Lunar and Planetary Observing Mailing List
http://www.shallowsky.com/shallow-sky.html
Devoted to the amateur observation, study, and discussion of all the planets and moons in our solar system.
netastrocatalog - Amateur Deep-Sky Observing Mailing List
http://www.visualdeepsky.org
Devoted to amateur "Deep Sky" observing: nebulae, star clusters, variable and multiple stars, and galaxies are all objects of interest on this list. Mainly focused on observing these objects however: questions of a more theoretical nature about them are usually better answered on ASTRO or the 'sci.astro.amateur' NewsGroup...
MPList - The Minor Planets Mailing List
http://www.bitnik.com/mp/
Devoted to amateur scientific discussions about the observation, study, and science of comets and asteroids. Please note that discussion on meteorobs will sometimes touch on comets and/or asteroids as well, as these objects are the parent bodies of meteoroid streams (and so of meteor showers)!
cometforum - The Comet Observers' Forum
http://planeta.clix.pt/cometforum/
Portuguese comet observer Alfredo Pereira's wonderful Web site is devoted loosely to amateur observation of comets, though there is also useful information at this site for Eclipse chasers, meteor shower watchers, and other observers of 'ephemeral' astronomical events.
meteorite-list - Meteorite Mailing List
http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing_list.shtml
Devoted to discussing hunts for, identification of, scientific studies in and general topics surrounding meteorites. These are the bodies which impact earth after some bright meteor events, so there may be cross-talk between meteorite-list and meteorobs. You will also find an extensive list of links to other meteorite-related resources at the same site: http://www.meteoritecentral.com/links.shtml
meteorite - Meteorite and Tektike Mailing List
http://www.meteorite.com/
An alternative to 'meteoritecentral.com', but also with definite commercial focus. There may sometimes be cross postings between the meteorite forums and the meteorobs mailing list and this Web site.
The Meteoritical Society - Web site and printed publication
http://www.uark.edu/studorg/metsoc/
Not an Internet forum, but "An international non-profit organization devoted to the study of: extraterrestrial materials and history, including asteroids, impact craters, interplanetary dust, lunar samples, meteors, meteorites, tektites, and the origin of the solar system."
The Meteorite Market - commercial meteorite site
http://www.alaska.net/~meteor/
Though this site is commercial (they offer meteorites for sale), their Web site is entitled "A place to buy meteorites ... or just learn about them". And they do provide lots of information and links about meteorites: classification, recognition, formation, cratering, etc.
Meteors and Meteorites - Philip M. Bagnall
http://www.meteorobs.org/bagnall/met.htm
Mr. Bagnall's gracious prose and interesting statistics had disappeared from the Internet - but they're at least temporarily rescued in this mirror on meteorobs.org...
SeeSat - Satellite Observation Mailing List
http://www.satellite.eu.org/satintro.html
Devoted to observation, identification, and discussion of artifical Earth satellites. Since these bodies are frequently observed by meteor watchers during recording sessions, there is occasional cross-posting between seesat and meteorobs.
SARA - Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers Mailing List
http://www.bambi.net/sara.html
Society dedicated to all aspects of amateur radio astronomy, including radio meteor research. SARA maintains an automated maillist which may be joined by sending "subscribe sara" to the SARA MajorDomo Server.
ARA - Amateur Radio Astronomers' Chat Room
http://www.radiosky.com
An alternative group to SARA. Their mailing list has folded, however they do maintain a Radio Astronomy Webchat Room. Topics discussed may include radio meteors...
MeteOptic - Meteorological Phenomena Mailing List
http://www.funet.fi/astro/eng/obs/meteoptic/
Devoted to discussions of solar and lunar halos, arcs, rainbows, and other related phenomena. Also frequently discusses Noctilucent Clouds and other topics more closely related to meteor observing and science.
HALO - Atmospheric Halos (informational website)
http://www.sundog.clara.co.uk/halo/halosim.htm
A source of authoritative information on the Web, by one of the most prominent halo scientists and authors, Les Cowley. If you have a question about halos, you'll either find an answer, or the right person to ask here!
CCNet - the Cambridge Conference Mailing List
http://abob.libs.uga.edu/bobk/cccmenu.html
All serious topics related to Near Earth Objects (NEOs), Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs), historical Earth impacts, or any similar studies are most appropriately addressed on this CCNet mailing list.
Dark-Sky - Light-Pollution Issues Mailing List
listserver@fpi-protostar.com
To subscribe, place the words "subscribe drksky-list" alone in the body of an email to "listserver@fpi-protostar.com".
Astronomy Expert (UK) - general astronomy site
http://www.astronomyexpert.co.uk/home.htm
AstronomyExpert was formed to offer a unique reference point on astronomy. The site "provides extensive information about celestial phenomena [...] outside Earth's atmosphere".
IMO-NEWS - Official Maillist of International Meteor Organization
http://www.imo.net (Mirror is here)
For members of IMO and associated scientists. Posts to this list are very strictly limited to immediate need, and to serious meteoric topics.

Or browse and search listings at these "List of Lists" sites:

Clear skies!
Lew Gramer <dedalus@alum.mit.edu>