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(meteorobs) Current Meteor Activity Outlook Feb. 4-10
The moon is new on the 5th so conditions could not be better for both
morning and evening observers. All of the positions listed are for
Friday night/Saturday morning February 4/5. The radiant positions
generally shift eastward only one degree each day so watching later on
in the week will make a very minor difference in the actual position.
The Virginids or February Leonids (as I like to call them this month) is
the first radiant to be active each night. The radiant is in central Leo
at 10:40 +14 or approximately 10 degrees of the bright star Regulus.
Like all anthelion radiants it is in the sky all night rising as the sun
is setting. It is best placed near the meridian (due south) around 1am
local standard time. Expect to see 1-2 meteors an hour from this radiant
but only if you face this general direction. The Virginids are a diffuse
radiant meaning that there may be subradiants occurring in the this
general area. List all activity from this area as Virginids. Major
subradiants that occur later this month and in April are listed
separately.
The Xi Bootids may peak in activity Sunday morning February 6. The
radiant is near the bright star Arcturus. Arcturus rises near 2230
(10:30 pm) but does not reach sufficient altitude until 1:00am. If you
are looking for possible members of this shower I would suggest facing
eastward to maximize your opportunities. One must be very careful with
sporadic meteors that may appear as Xi Bootids. Any Xi Bootid appearing
near the radiant would be short. If you are facing toward Arcturus and
see a long meteor (10 degrees or longer) in the center of your view then
it is a sporadic or belongs to some other shower. A shower member must
be twice it's length from the radiant to be considered a member of that
shower. For instance a meteor 5 degrees long will appear at least 10
degrees distant from its radiant. A meteor 10 degrees long will appear
at least 20 degrees distant from its radiant so it's easy to see that a
long meteor is a long way from home. There are no limits for short
meteors. A short shower member can appear at anywhere in the sky.
Another guide to helping you with shower associations is velocity. Short
meteors appearing near the radiant will be slower than those appearing
further away. If you see a very fast meteor near Arcturus chances are it
is a sporadic or belongs to another shower. The same goes for slow
meteors seen far from the radiant; they are also sporadic or belong to
another shower. These rules will limit the number of Xi Bootids seen but
then again we are interested in only true shower members.
The Xi Bootids would be best seen between 1am and dawn. It is uncertain
what the actual rates may be. The geocentric velocity should be
somewhere near 50 km/sec. meaning that the average Xi Bootid would
appear slower than a Perseid but faster than the recent Geminids and
Quadrantids. Let us know what you see!
For observers in the northern tropics and the Southern Hemisphere the
following radiants remain active:
Alpha Carinids (ACN) 6:30 -54 Slow speeds best seen near 2200
(10:00 pm) local time
Delta Velids (DVE) 8:44 -52 Medium-slow speeds best seen
near midnight local time
Omicron Centaurids (OCE) 11:26 -56 Medium-fast speeds best seen
near 3:00 am local time
Theta Centaurids (TCE) 12:50 -35 Medium-fast speeds best seen
near 4:00 am local time
Alpha Centaurids (ACE) 13:50 -59 Medium-fast speeds best seen
near 5:00 am local time
Finally sporadic rates would be near 4 per hour during evening hours and
up to 8 per hour during the morning hours as seen from rural observing
sites.
Clear Skies!
Robert Lunsford
AMS Visual Coordinator
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