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(meteorobs) Re: Possible Persied??
Kim Hay wrote:
>
>
> > I was out observing this morning, and one meteor I seen, if you drew
> > it back, could have been a persied?
> >
> > Could this be true, are we not out of the Persied time frame?
>
> > Where are you placing the radiant position at? You might be seeing a Delta
> > Aurigid or a sporadic?
>
> I was facing East, and when I drew it back it would have aligned
> beside Persied. It was white, fast mag 2 . I was using Pollux as my
> Centre Field of view.
>
> Hope this helps to determine.
>
Kim,
I know it is difficult to visualize but showers have a finite activity
period. The Perseids for instance are produced by comet Swift-Tuttle and
the orbit of that comet and the Earth coincide on August 12. Perseid
activity seen for a week centered on that date belong to the core
component of comet Swift-Tuttle. Any Perseid activity seen during late
July or late August is due to particles from Swift-Tuttle that have been
severely perturbed from the core orbit. Any Perseid like meteors seen
before July 15 or after August 25 lie so far from the core orbit that
the possibility of them being related to comet Swift-Tuttle is remote.
Therefore the meteor you witnessed a few nights ago must be a sporadic
(random meteor) or belong to another shower.
The Delta Aurigid radiant now lies near the Perseus-Auriga border and
produces "Perseid-like" meteors. I am confident that this is what you
saw.
I hope this helps!
Bob Lunsford
References: