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(meteorobs) Fw: [IMO-News] IMO Shower Circ: eta-Aquarids 2000



            -------------------------------------
            I M O   S h o w e r   C i r c u l a r
            -------------------------------------

                      Eta-AQUARIDS 2000


The meteor shower of the eta-Aquarids is not easily observed from
mid-northern latitudes where the majority of visual observers is
located, because of the very late rising of the radiant before
dawn, and fewer amateurs are observing from the southern hemi-
sphere where dawn is much later, and the radiant climbs higher
before the end of the meteor watch.

It is therefore even more challenging to produce a meaningful
activity graph of the eta-Aquarids quickly after their maximum,
and I am very grateful for the immediate submission of the reports
by the following observers:

DAVMA  Mark Davis (USA)
JOHCA  Carl Johannink (the Netherlands)
LANMA  Marco Langbroek (the Netherlands)
LINMI  Mike Linnolt (USA)
MARAD  Adam Marsh (Australia)
MARPI  Pierre Martin (Canada)
MATMI  Michael Matiazzo (Australia)
MCLAL  Alex M'clintock (Spain)
MISKO  Koen Miskotte (the Netherlands)
MOSSC  Scott Moser (USA)
YOUKI  Kim Youmans (USA)

The gradual increase of activity is nicely show in the below
Table. The maximum time is, however, hard to fix because of a
severe dip in the UT morning of May 6 when the ZHR fell below
half-value of its neighbours. Maximum ZHRs appear to be at the
lower end of previous years' typical values of 60-70 per hour.

--------------------------------------------
Date   Time (UT)  Sol.  nETA  nObs <ZHR> +-
--------------------------------------------
Apr 29   1800    39.71    1    2     2.4 1.7
Apr 30   1640    40.63    2    1    20  11
May 01   1730    41.64   25    3    24   4.8
May 03   0050    42.90   23    4    36   6.1
May 04   0840    44.19   15    3    38   9.5
May 04   1750    44.56   14    4    50  13
May 05   1330    45.35   80    5    49   5.5
May 06   0530    46.00   12    5    24   6.8
May 06   1610    46.43  119    6    51   4.7
May 07   0530    46.96   19    4    25   5.7
--------------------------------------------

Solar longitudes refer to equinox J2000. Average times are given with
10-minute accuracy though often refer to many hours coverage. The
average ZHR was computed by <ZHR> = sum n / sum(Teff/C) where Teff is
the effective observing time, C is the total correction according to
limiting magnitude, possible field obstruction and radiant elevation
as sin(hR). The ZHR refers to a limiting magnitude of +6.5 and a
radiant elevation of 90 degrees. nETA is the number eta-Aquarids seen,
nObs is the number of observing periods contributing to the average;
the number of individual observers is smaller in most of the cases.

--
Rainer Arlt, 2000 May 08

Visual Commission - International Meteor Organization -- www.imodot net
rarlt@aipdot de --  phone: +49-331-7499-533  --  fax: +49-331-7499-526



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