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(meteorobs) The ALPO Meteors Section
A question has been raised concerning the role of the Meteors Section of
the Association of Lunar & Planetary Observers (ALPO)in toadies meteor
groups.
A Little History:
ALPO was formed in 1947 and recently celebrated their 50th anniversary.
The association consists of 600 members from across the world who are
primarily interested in observations of solar system objects such as the
sun, moon, planets, asteroids, comets, and meteors. It is the only group
that I know of who regularly publishes articles and observations and
that caters to observers of the entire solar system.
The Meteors Section (ALPOMS) has been in existence since the early
1980's and was originally under the guidance of David Levy. The intent
of this section was to disseminate information about meteors to ALPO
members and to publish members meteor observations. Unfortunately
participation was low and the Section floundered while the Comets
Section (also under Mr. Levy's guidance) flourished.
At the same time the death of Dr. Olivier had a profound effect upon the
American Meteor Society (AMS). After his passing communication between
the Regional Managers lessened and the group became somewhat fragmented.
It also did not help that several of their major contributors including
Norman McLeod III found observing time less and less available. To the
groups outside the USA it seemed that meteor observing in America was
pretty much a dead issue during the 1980's.
A New Beginning:
A change occurred in 1987 when Dave Levy resigned from ALPOMS. I saw the
opportunity to revitalize our field of interest and applied for the
position of Meteors Section Recorder. Much to my chagrin it was awarded
to a variable star specialist who really did not have the time to run
the section. This gentleman soon realized this situation and stepped
down the following year. Dr. Westfall then recalled my application and
it was awarded to me at the next convention. My intention was to
popularize meteor observing and to publish the results of members
observations. First and foremost though was to establish communication
between myself and the observers to let them know that someone was here
actually reading their reports. This is what irked me about the AMS at
that time, there was data going in but little in the way of feedback.
Also in the 1988 the International Meteor Organization was formed to try
to coordinate world-wide observations. Unfortunately the AMS and the IMO
got off to a bad relationship which was the fault of people in both
groups. I saw an opportunity to work with the IMO which was well
received in Europe as I was also a member of their group.
Soon the Meteors Section was revitalized and within a year visual
contributions exceeded those received by the AMS. From the period 1988
through 1997 the ALPOMS was the most active meteor group in America
contributing hundreds of hours of data to the IMO visual database. In
fact the USA lead the world in time contributed from 1993 through 1995
due to the coordination of ALPOMS and other active independent
observers. With the growth of home computers and the internet there was
the opportunity to expand to beyond the postal system. In 1994 George
Zay was the leading voice of a group of amateurs on America on Line. He
and my APLOMS Assistant Recorder Mark Davis coordinated the
establishment an on-line group know as the North American Meteor Network
(NAMN). With the help of Lewis Gramer and his establishment of the
meteorobs list, observations soon poured in over the internet and
surpassed the volume of ALPO. It was a good situation as ALPO catered to
those without computers while NAMN was 99% on line.
As with all groups there were disagreements and unfortunately Mr. Zay
disagreed with some of the advice that Mr. Davis and myself posted to
new observers. This led to Mr. Zay's resigning from NAMN and withholding
his support and observing summaries from the American meteor groups. He
did though continue to observe and to post his many verbal observations
to the meteorobs list through 1998.
Meanwhile the AMS, which was still active gathering radio data, saw the
opportunity to unite the various groups under one banner. In October
1997, James Richardson, with the blessing of the AMS Director David
Meisel, proposed that we work together instead of duplicating our
efforts. After discussions involving myself, Mark Davis, Lewis
Gramer, and Wayne Hally, we unanimously agreed to work as one under the
AMS banner with the ALPOMS, NAMN, and the New Jersey Astronomy
Association (NJAA) becoming affiliates of the AMS. Mr. Richardson should
receive all the credit for this (and for the cooperation that exists
today) as it was he who did all of the work convincing others in the AMS
Staff to approach the other American Groups and to propose a coordinated
effort.
Today the ALPOMS still caters to those without email access and shares
its data with both the AMS and the IMO. It also continues to play an
important role within ALPO by providing information and publishing
articles and observations in the ALPO Journal. It is an ideal situation
but my only reservations are that I lack the time to fulfill my ALPOMS
duties to the utmost do to time devoted to the IMO and the AMS.
On A Closing Note:
I'm certainly not trying to toot my own horn as a savior of meteor
observers here in America. That privilege goes to those who spend their
nights out under the stars and take the time to organize and share their
observations with us.
If anyone sees this in a different light I invite them to respond and to
share their insights. If there are questions and you feel I may be
biased with my answers, then I would invite you to direct your comments
towards unbiased observers who have been here since the very beginning
such as George Gliba.
Many Thanks & Clear Skies!
Robert Lunsford
ALPOMS Coordinator
AMS International Liaison & Meteor Trails Editor
IMO Secretary-General, Assistant Treasurer, & North American Coordinator
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