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(meteorobs) NAMN Notes: August 1998

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NAMN Notes: August 1998
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1. The first meeting of NAMN members took place this past month from July 12
to July 17. A total of nine NAMN members converged on the Boyer Motel and
Campground near the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in West Virginia.
Discussions were far-ranging, but weather conditions were not, as we were
clouded in almost the entire week. More on this event to follow in next
months issue.


2. On the fireball front, I am glad to report on a new fireball tracking
network in Canada. According to Ed Majden:

"I've been in operation at my site in Courtenay, B.C. for about a month now.
Everything is working fine, except for the fact that we have had no
fireballs. It was cloudy on the coast for the Prince George daylight
fireball, July 14, so it was not recorded. Dr. Bob Nelson is collecting
reports in the Prince George area on this event. I have recorded several
iridium flares, nearly one or two every other night. I'm afraid some of
these will be reported as fireballs or UFO's by the public. David Balam in
Victoria says he has recorded a few -2.0 meteors with the camera there. We
are more interested in much brighter events however."

We wish Ed good luck on the venture!


3. From Sky & Telescope News Bulletin, July 3, 1998:

We've received word that on June 20th a hefty meteorite fell about 100 km
from the city of Tashauz in Turkmenistan. According to scientist Seid
Muhamednazarov, the daylight fall was preceded by a dazzling orange bolide
that left a train of black smoke as it moved northeast across the sky. The
projectile broke into at least three pieces before impact, and the largest
fragment created a small crater about 6 meters wide and 4 deep. At its
bottom a recovery team found a cone-shaped stony iron meteorite weighing
between 300 and 500 kg.


4. Recent Papers:

FORMATION & EVOLUTION OF THE PERSEID METEOROID STREAM
P. Brown & J.Jones: Simulation of the formation and evolution of the
Perseid meteoroid stream. ICARUS, 1998, Vol.133, No.1, pp.36-68

NEW IMPLICATIONS FOR A TAURID METEOROID SWARM
D.J. Asher and K. Izumi: Meteor observations in Japan: New
implications for a Taurid meteoroid swarm. MONTHLY NOTICES OF THE
ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY, 1998, Vol.297, No.1, pp.23-27


5. One of our members has begun to experiment with the use of night vision
equipment. Only early tests have been performed, but he reports some of the
results are interesting. If you possess night vision equipment, or have an
interest in this developing technology, feel free to drop Michael an email.
His address is:  Meteors319@aol.com


6. If you are jetting across the ocean, don't forget

METEOROIDS 1998
===============
A meeting to be held in Tatranska Lomnica, Astronomical Institute, Slovak
Academy of Sciences August 16-22, 1998

The topics include:
- Structure and evolution of meteoroid streams, the sporadic background
- Associations with meteoroid parent bodies
- Physics and chemistry of meteors / meteoroids / meteorites
- Interplanetary particles and cosmic dust, proporties and dynamics
- Leonid meteor stream
- Observational programs (optical, radar, onboard)

Scientific Organizing Committee:
W.J. Baggaley (Chairman), P.B. Babadzhanov, O.I. Belkovich, Z. Zeplecha,
G. Cevolani, B.A.S. Gustafson, A. Hajduk, I. Hasegawa, R.L. Hawkes, I. Mann,
J. Jones, B.A. Lindblad, V. Porubcan, M. Simek, I.P. Williams

To receive additional information, contact Vladimir Porubcan at:

Astronomical Institute SAV
Dubravska 9
84228 Bratislava
Slovakia

tel.:421-7-375157 fax:421-7-375157 e-mail: astropor@savba.savba.sk


7. In addition to catching some Perseids in a moon-brightened sky, you might
try these two additional showers this month. Below is the poop on them from
the IMO:

kappa-Cygnids
-------------
Active: August 3 - 25; Maximum: August 18; ZHR = 3
Radiant: 286deg, +59deg (RA=19h 04m, DEC=+59)
Radius: 5deg; V = 25 km/s; r = 3.0


Northern iota-Aquarids
----------------------
Active: August 11 - 31; Maximum: August 20; ZHR = 3
Radiant: 327deg, -06deg (RA=21h 48m, DEC=-06)
Radius: 5deg; V = 31 km/s; r = 3.2


Clear skies!

Mark Davis
MeteorObs@charlestondot net