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(meteorobs) MINOR METEOR SHOWER ALERT


    * * * * MINOR METEOR SHOWER ALERT - Possible Xi Bootid Meteors * * * *

    On Sunday morning, February 6th, or sooner, there may be a repeat showing
of the possible Xi Bootid minor meteor shower, which was first seen in 1997 
from the Florida Keys, during the annual Winter Star Party. I saw 14 meteors 
in about 2.5 hours Teff from a radiant near Xi Bootis. I estimated the general
location of the putative radiant as best I could as I wasn't plotting. If I 
hadn't see seven meteors from the same area during the first hour, from 7:23 
to 8:23 UT, it would have been hard to estimate a radiant without plotting, 
but seeing so many meteors in an hour alerted me to enhanced activity coming
from the constellation Bootes.

    Once fixed on a radiant near Xi Bootis, I was strict when assigning any
association to it. As I knew that personal bias can play bad tricks, I put a
limit of five degrees on the size of the radiant. This is smaller than what
the IMO uses for meteor shower associations when plotting. After a total of 
about 7.5 hours of meteor observing, from Feb. 5/6 to Feb. 8/9 1997, at early
morning hours, I determined that 26 meteors of medium speed, with an average
magnitude of 3.6, were seen coming from a possible new unknown radiant near 
the star Xi in Bootes.

    Interestingly, about three hours of enhanced radio meteor activity was
reported by noted radio meteor observer Maurice De Meyere of Deurle, Belgium,
the year before, on February 4/5 1996 UT, according to Radio Meteor Observation
Bulletin No. 31 (March 1996). It is not known if this other activity is related
or not, but it may be.

    Although the bright gibbous moon interfered in early February of 1999, four
possible Xi Bootids were plotted by the Canadian meteor observer Pierre Martin
on January 25/26, from RA 13:55 DEC +22 in ~1.6 hours. This area is about where
the radiant for the Xi Bootids would be expected, assuming a normal eastward
drift of about one degree per day, which is very plausible. This may be the
first early confirmation for this possible new minor meteor shower, and that 
it starts in late January. 

    Also, some meteor observers from the Nippon Meteor Society in Japan had
reported in meteorobs last year that some meteor activity was seen in Corona 
Borealis, in early February. This is only about 10 degrees from the Xi Bootis
area; so it is possible that this could be the same radiant. Small errors in 
their plotting, or in my estimated location could account for this.

    With the very favorable lunar and calendar conditions this year (New Moon
and the Weekend), this year would be a good time to try to plot meteors from 
this part of the sky to try to confirm any possible minor shower activity.
Video, radio, radar, and photographic observations are also encouraged. 


Sincerely,
G.W. Gliba
NAMN AMS ALPO AAVSO

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