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(meteorobs) Possible Meteors from C/1999 J3 (LINEAR)
Possible Meteors from C/1999 J3 (LINEAR)
Reinder J. Bouma, Groningen, The Netherlands, writes: "The new orbital
elements of comet 1999 J3 (LINEAR) from MPC 35207 strongly suggest
that we might be able to see (a few) associated meteors around 11/12
November. Some details: This comet passes its descending node on 1999
October 2.92 (UT) at 1.003 AU from the Sun, only 0.013 AU outside the
Earth's orbit. The Earth itself crosses the orbital plane near this
point on 1999 November 11.85 (UT), only 40 days behind the comet, a
really favourable geometry to observe associated meteors. Comet 1999
J3 appears to be of VERY long period (orbit is still a parabola), and
intrinsically faint with H10 near 9 or 10, so it is unlikely that we
will see a big display, but nothing can be excluded beforhand. The
radiant will be found near Gamma Ursae Majoris at RA 176 deg. and
Dec. +58 deg. (J2000.), and meteors will be rather fast with an
apparent velocity of 58km/s. Best times to keep an eye on possible
Gamma Ursae Majorids is in the early morning hours of 11 and 12
November. At the time of orbital plane passage the radiant will be
low, due north, for Dutch observers only 21 degrees up, and lower the
more south you go. The Moon is only 3-4 days old and will not
interfere, so conditions are really good."
Note that there is of course no guarantee that any meteors will be
observable, but it certainly will be worth watching for any possible
activity. As the ZHR is likely to be low (if not zero), plotting any
observed meteors potentially belonging to this shower, is the only
visual method that will allow later confirmation of activity.
Can someone confirm this?
Jure A.
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