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(meteorobs) For more info...

Greetings all,

And a welcome to Mike Csorbay & Debbie Kinloch, Mark Combellack and the
other Canadians who have fairly recently joined our meteorobs email list!  

Meteorobs is a wonderful resource, and a great place to ask questions of all
kinds - on all types of meteor observing - visual, photographic, video,
radio, and spectroscopic.  We have both experienced amateurs, and
professionals on this list, and participants of all ages.

Mike and Debbie had inquired about meteor speeds, and showers visible for
this coming year.  The IMO Meteor Shower Calendar for 2000 is available on
the website of the International Meteor Organization at www.imodot net and has
all this sort of info - list of showers, velocities, radiants, and dates
visible.  I would highly recommend printing it off for reference for the
coming year!  It's about 20 pages long, but includes some maps of meteor
radiants as well.  Put it in a binder, and it makes a great reference for
the year!  The IMO website also has a wealth of other information on it -
including radio, and links to related sites.

Also, coming up to a new year, I would highly recommend anybody interested
in meteor observing to sign up for the following publications (following are
rates for persons living in North America):

1.  Meteor Trails, a newsletter published by the AMS, American Meteor
Society, available for $8 US for the year, called 'associate membership',
send money order payable to 'AMS' to Karl Simmons, AMS Treasurer, 3859
Woodland Heights, Callahan, FL 32011, USA

2.  WGN, the bimonthly publication of the IMO, the International Meteor
Organization, available as part of membership in the IMO, which is $25 US,
send money order payable to 'Mr. Robert Lunsford', 161 Vance Street, Chula
Vista, CA 91910, USA

Both of these make great reading for anyone interested in meteor observing!

I have included at the end of this note, a list of web resources for meteors
and meteorites that I put together earlier this year, and have used for
interested new people and teachers.  You might find some of these sites of
use to you as well!

Clear skies!

- Cathy Hall
  Ottawa, Canada


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Web Resources for Meteors and Meteorites:
************************************************

Where to find out information on meteor observing:

North American Meteor Network:
http://web.infoavedot net/~meteorobs
includes an observing guide & star charts for beginners

American Meteor Society:
http://www.amsmeteors.org
includes meteor shower basics, and answers to frequently asked questions

International Meteor Organization:
http://www.imodot net
includes info on visual, photographic, video and radio observations, and a
neat computer software simulation of a meteor storm - MetSim

Where to get further info on major and minor showers:
Gary Kronk's Comets and Meteor Showers:
http://comets.amsmeteors.org
includes historical info, and a special education corner with online movies
of comets, meteors and asteroids

Where to find out what your sky will look like on any given night:
Your Sky, an interactive planetarium on the web:
http://www.fourmilab.ch/yoursky
excellent, recommended easier to view if you delete deep sky objects,
constellation boundaries, star names and codes, set stars to magnitude 4.0,
and adjust colour to your preference

Where to find out what satellites you will see while meteor observing:
http://www.heavens-above.com
has sky charts, and gives daily predictions for where in the sky to look to
see the brighter satellites, and what their names are

Where to learn all about meteorites and impacts:
Meteorite and Impacts Advisory Committee to the Canadian Space Agency:
http://dsaing.uqac.uquebecdot ca/~mhiggins/MIAC

Where to see meteorite samples up close:
The Meteorite Market:
http://www.alaskadot net/~meteor
a great source of information on learning about different types of
meteorites, with lots of colour pictures and information on various falls

Where to get great photos and information on craters all over the world:
Database of Terrestrial Impact Structures, Natural Resources Canada:
http://gdcinfo.agg.emrdot ca/crater/world_craters.html

Where to view various astro movies, including the Peakskill fireball:
http://image.gsfc.nasadot gov/poetry/movies/movies.html
has an incredible selection of online movies and animations from NASA and
elsewhere, on all aspects of astronomy

Where to find books on meteors to further your knowledge:
Knollwood Books:
http://www.meteorite.com/knollbks.htm

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