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(meteorobs) The 1996 Orionids

As a reminder:

The NAMN target shower for October is the Orionids. Although the morning of peak
activity will be hampered somewhat by moonlight, activity from this shower
may be seen throughout most of the month which insures some periods of moon-free
observing. The Orionids are active October 2 to November 7 and reach maximum
activity on October 21 from a radiant of 095 +16. But the shower is known to
exhibit several submaxima which may occur anytime between October 20-24.

The Orionids are the incoming (pre-perihelion) particles from Halley's comet
with a velocity of 66 km/s. As with other cometary showers of high velocity,
observers should watch for substantial train production by the Orionids. The
highest hourly rates are near 20 under good conditions. Most Orionid meteors
are faint and therefore difficult to photograph.

Observations should be made after midnight in order to allow the radiant time to
rise to a sufficient height above the horizon. During the period October 14-27,
observers should be aware of the minor shower Epsilon Geminids that will be
active, and not confuse the two since meteors from both showers will have
similar velocities. As with other times when more than one radiant is
active, choose a field center that prevents the backward prolongation of a
possible shower meteor from crossing both radiants. In this case, probably
the best field of view is to the west of the Orionid radiant.

The radiant positions for the Orionids are:

Oct 05  85  +14          Oct 25   98  +16
Oct 10  88  +15          Oct 30  101  +16
Oct 15  91  +15          Nov 05  105  +17
Oct 20  94  +16

The showers active during the month of October, and their three-letter code
include:

Delta Aurigids (DAU)    Sep 05-Oct 10
Draconids (GIA)         Oct 06-Oct 10  (a periodic shower)
Epsilon Geminids (EGE)  Oct 14-Oct 27
Orionids (ORI)          Oct 02-Nov 07
Southern Taurids (STA)  Oct 01-Nov 25
Northern Taurids (NTA)  Oct 01-Nov 25

For more information on the above showers, contact me at the address below.

Mark Davis
MeteorObs@charlestondot net
Awendaw, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network (NAMN)
Assistant Coordinator, ALPO Meteors Section
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Visit the NAMN home page at:
	http://medicine.wustldot edu/~kronkg/namn.html
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