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(meteorobs) Alpha Cygnids
-- [ From: Robert Lunsford * EMC.Ver #2.10P ] --
The February 21, 1994 edition of Astronomy and Astrophysics contained
an article on meteor stream activity by Peter Jenniskens of the Dutch
Meteor Society (DMS).
This particular article focussed on the annual streams. Data for the
article was obtained by DMS and North Australian Planetary Observers
(NAPO) between 1981 and 1991. In the article Jenniskens states:"Even on
the northern hemisphere, photographic surveys may, occasionally, have
missed a minor stream. Indeed, in the cause of the reduction of
northern hemisphere data from archived starmaps I found one, only one,
such minor stream not previously mentioned that might warrant further
investigation: 72 medium fast meteors were observed to radiate
apparently from RA = 304, DEC = +48 in a few days around July 17-22.
Following this find, a watch in 1990 gave a radiant at RA<DEC = 300,+52
(15 meteors, Jenniskens et al. 1991) and a watch by the author in 1993
resulted again in RA,DEC = 304,+48 (4 meteors). Photographic
confirmation is weak: one possible member was photographed in Dushanbe
on 1961 July 12: RA = 304.5, DEC = +49.7, V = 41.0 km/s (Babadzhanov &
Kramer 1965). The o Cygnids are added to the selection of streams, but
these observations need further confirmation before it can be excluded
that they are merely due to chance alignment of sporadic meteors or
meteors of other minor streams, for example, the o Draconids listed in
Cook (1973) (Solar Longitude = 112; RA,DEC = 271,+59; V = 24 km/s)."
I believe this shower is identical to the banished Alpha Cygnids of
both the IMO and the AMS. No matter what you call them, as the article
states, observations are needed to verify this shower.
They are active from 7/11 through 7/30 with the maximum activity
occurring on the 19th. On the date of maximum activity the radiant
position is at 305 (20:20) +47. The radiant drift is 0.6 degree/day in
RA and +0.3 in DEC.
Bob Lunsford