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(meteorobs) Re: apex raidant
Tom and All,
The apex radiant is produced from debris in a retrograde orbit infalling
toward the sun while the antisolar or anthelion radiant is debris in a
direct orbit also infalling toward the sun.
This debris is more or less randomly distributed throughout the inner
solar but there are slight peaks of activity attributed to certain
circumstances.
For the apex radiant the peak seems to occur in September for the
Northern Hemisphere. This is a time of the year when the angle of the
ecliptic places the apex at its highest altitude above the horizon
before dawn.
For the antisolar radiant the peak occurs in November when the debris of
comet Encke combines with the normal random debris and this produces
both branches of the Taurid meteor shower.
It is also an interesting to note that the apex radiant also lies in
Taurus during the first three weeks of September. Taurus is quite a
"hotbed" of activity the last half of the year!
Bob Lunsford
> Tom Fleming wrote:
>
> I am intrigued by this term, the apex radiant, and the antisolar
> radiant. Are these low velocity debris from the inner solar system
> randomly infalling toward the sun or are they in 'permanent' orbits as
> are the meteors associated with cometary orbits.
>
> Tom
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