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Re: (meteorobs) Searching for an ETA without a train...Boredom and AlphaScorpiids

>         Now I'm just a novice meteor counter.  Tracing these back to an
> exact radiant is not my specialty yet.  So my question would be, of all
> the radiants near Scorpio at the present (five or six!)  does anyone
> know what minor shower these meteors could  most likely be?   They do
> SEEM to line up quite well with Antares.  They are quite distinctive!

Hi Kim,

Due to the number of radiants active here, it is often difficult to
distinguish between showers. Compounding the problem is the fact that many
of these minor showers have extremely low rates. This is why plotting is
preferred in these cases, but even this is not always successful. Because of
this, you will find different meteor groups handling the problem different
ways.

In the case of IMO, they have grouped much of this activity under the
heading of Sagittarids (SAG). In my opinion, this is definitely the way to
go if you are making visual counts. Within the SAG's is the shower known as
the Alpha Scorpids (ASC). From your description, it may be members of this
stream that you are noting, and depending on the date, they do come close to
Antares. The ASC's have a listed velocity of 35 km/s and are known to
produce richly colored meteors. Here is the entry I have for them in my
shower catalog:

Alpha Scorpids (ASC)     Active: Mar 26-May 12     Max: May 3
Radiant: 240 -27         Diameter: 5               Drift: +0.9 -0.1
Velocity: 35 km/s        Population Index: 2.5     ZHR: ?
NOTES: This is a shower of long duration which possesses a broad maximum
centered on May 3. In contrast to the very swift Eta Aquarids, the Alpha
Scorpids are much slower but are richly colored. Fireballs from this shower
can range from emerald green to deep orange and nearly every color in
between. As with the Eta Aquarids, this shower is better situated for
observers in the Southern Hemisphere. The ZHR is suspect.

-mark




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