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(meteorobs) TONIGHT: Meteors from Schwassmann-Wachmann 3
Possible Meteor Shower from Comet Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 tonight
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Out planet approaches a dust trail from the Comet on May 30
this year. The miss distance of 0.0026 AU is not very small
compared with big approaches causing big meteor storms. Yet
there is a chance to see some enhanced activity from a
radiant at
alpha = 212 deg ( = 14h08m)
delta = +28 deg
V_inf = 17 km/s
The entry velocity in the atmosphere, V_inf, is extremely
low, and meteors should be discriminated from sporadics
using the speed criterion as well as the orientation.
As the velocity is significantly lower than all annual
meteor showers, members of the SW3-ids should not be
just slow, they ought to be extremely slow! The activity
is expected to be weak: meteor plotting into (gnomonic)
charts will thus provide a more objective way to associate
meteors with the shower.
The predicted maximum time is May 30, 10h UT, favouring
observation from Northern American longitudes. Neverthe-
less, observations of the adjacent nights in Europe and
Asia will provide very important information about the
entire activity graph of the shower.
The dust trail originates from particles ejected at the
1941 perihelion passage of Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. The
Comet is of particular interest because of its break-up
in 1995 showing that the entire body has ben most fragile.
We will be grateful for fast reporting of observations
after these nights.
Rainer Arlt
--
Rainer Arlt -- Astrophysikalisches Institut Potsdam -- www.aipdot de
Visual Commission - International Meteor Organization -- www.imodot net
rarlt@aipdot de -- phone: +49-331-7499-354 -- fax: +49-331-7499-526
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