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(meteorobs) June Bootids Outburst



Well, we were able to see quite a reasonable show from Australia.  Below is a preliminary report on the event as we saw it.  The
best from it was a -3.5 white and slowwwww fireball seen low in the north.
It was a great night in all.
See Ya, Adam Marsh
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ASV Meteor Section Report, June Bootids Outburst, June 1998
Outburst of meteor activity was witnessed by four observers from Melbourne, Australia between 13 UT and 13:30 UT on the 27th June
1998.  The meteor activity was found to radiate from a region around Corona Borealis around 15h20m R.A and +35° Declination.  The
radiant position was about 20° above the local horizon.  The brief outburst produced two fireballs of -3 and -4 magnitude and
another seven meteors of magnitude +2 to +3.  The meteors were characteristically very slow, did not leave trains and were
predominantly white with an orange/red hue.

The observing session on the 27th of June was conducted by Adam Marsh, Geoff Carstairs, Roger Vodicka and David Girling covering
the period between 13 U.T and 16h40m U.T.  The outburst was confined to the period 13 U.T to 13:30 U.T although a -4 magnitude
fireball was witnessed by David Girling at 9h30m U.T earlier that evening.  The sky conditions were excellent with a limiting
magnitude of +6.5 or better.  The observers faced towards the North about 45° East of the suspected radiant position.

Observations conducted on the 26th June 1998 by Adam Marsh did not show any activity between a period of 14h to 18h U.T.
Observations on the 29th June between 11 U.T and 12:30 U.T by Roger Vodicka also showed no activity from this region.

It is possible that the meteors witnessed were not from the June Bootid radiant which has a Declination of +58° since this puts
the radiant 10° below the local horizon. The -3 fireball witnessed had a path almost parallel to the horizon about 10° above it.
This fact and the trajectory of other meteor paths seen points to the possibility of a radiant position around Corona Borealis.

Report by Roger Vodicka (Section Director) and Adam Marsh (Asst Section Director)