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Re: (meteorobs) Meteor documentary



Hello Iana,
           Your post was indeed most appropriate.   I and many others on the list
will be eagerly awaiting the airing of the documentary next year.
    There are many aspects of meteor astronomy that I feel would be important to
include in your list of things to focus on.
The leonid storms of the past  year, the leonid fireball shower of 1998,  and the
distinct possibility of of Leonid storms in 2000 and more likely, 2001 and 2002.
The Leonid MAC expeditions would be an excellent focus and I'm sure there is
plenty of video for 1998 and 1999 available.  This was an airborne expedition
sponsored by NASA and headed by Peter Jenniskens.  There were also Mongolian and
Las Palmas expeditions for the Leonids in 1998 and 1999 respectively and these
should be mentioned.
   The main reason I am contacting you is about amateur meteor astronomy.  This
is one of the last areas in science where the amateur can truly make an impact.
A group of amateur observers, myself included, helped establish the existence of
a new (possibly two) meteor radiant(s) in Febuary of this year.  I attended a
meeting of the American Meteor Society in March, during which a primary focus was
the need to bring amateur meteor astronomy back in the the consciousness of the
American public, as it appears to be waning.  Your program could do an incredible
amount of good in this respect merely by focusing on amateur
meteor astronomy for only 5-10 minutes.  We created a new position during the
meeting, Public Outreach Coordinator, specifically for this purpose.  It is
currently chaired by Lew Gramer, the owner/moderator of this list, and I would
strongly urge you to contact him.  He would be most willing to provide you with
the information and guidance need to create a short segment devoted to amateur
meteor astronomy.  (of course, ahem, I'd be happy, ahem, for you to come down
south and film me "in action," cough, ahem, as I plot meteors.
     The entire point being that the American Meteor Society is currently trying
to achieve the goal of public awareness in this field, and a short segment during
you documentary would be more than a little bit helpful in this respect.
Sincerely,
Kim S. Youmans



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