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(meteorobs) Request for observations: kappa-Leonid shower
On 1995 March 5/6 I noticed strong telescopic activity from a radiant a
few degrees north-east of Regulus. The watches had been for Virginid
but when I noticed many slow meteors from the same direction I was able
to select fields to triangulate the source of the meteors. This proved
to be near 46 Leonis at RA 154.7d, Dec +14.7d, from which 14 meteors
of the 33 total seen radiated. Observations the previous night showed
perhaps 2 or 3 possible members from this shower. Subsequent nights
failed to produce any more from this radiant.
The shower was definitely seen between solar longitude 345.00 to
345.19 (that's one day earlier than quoted in my WGN article 23:4,
151). Tuning the velocity in RADIANT's probability mode yields a best
geocentric velocity of 20 km/s.
A literature search turned up a kappa-Leonid shower in one of
Alexandra Terentjeva's lists which best matched the location, speed,
and short-duration. In fact it is a close double radiant in the
catalogue. [Vigiliant readers will note that kappa Leonis is about 17
degrees away from the radiant. Perhaps Alexandra had already assigned
the nearby Greek letters to other showers... That's another thread.]
The purpose of this posting is to invite meteor plotters and video
operators to look out for this shower this dark weekend. I'd like to
know if this shower is still active, and what its luminosity function
is. The period of activity seen in 1995 corresponds to 2000 March 5
6-10 UT. The times favour North America and Hawaii. However, it's not
clear when the shower commences, so it is worth looking at least a day
either side at any longitude. Telescopic observations will be
especially welcome. Suggested IMO telescopic charts are:
number RA Dec
103 09 32 +24
146 09 36 +09
if you only observe from a pair of locations. If you intend to do
several watches add fields
105 11 44 +21
124 09 12 +11.5
147 10 00 +08
to encircle the radiant. Atlas Uranometria is an adequate substitute
for small-binocular users.
Clear skies,
Malcolm
tele@imodot net
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