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Meteors and the astronomy press (was Re: (meteorobs) Leonids latest?)
Please note that Louis Binder's query was about the *Leonid* meteor shower,
which reaches maximum (and *may* storm for some regions of the world) in
mid-November this year. The following reply from aergo on the other hand,
is apropos the *Perseids*, which peak in mid-August (12 Aug this year).
Aergo writes:
>Sky and Telescope has a good Events listing - by month:
> http://www.skypub.com/sights/skyevents/0108skyevents.shtml
Thanks for noting that, A. For general astronomical information, both the Web
site and the magazine "Sky & Telescope" are good sources to go to. And in this
case their Perseid description is also fine as far as it goes. But always keep
in mind that when it comes to meteor information, the source that the *press*
(including S&T and Astronomy magazines) goes to is the meteor community! And
that ultimate source group for meteors is largely comprised of people who are
reading this email right now...
So far as I know, there are no meteor scientists (amateur or professional) on
the editorial boards of any of the major astronomy magazines - anyway not the
ones in N. America. Our own Joe Rao is sometimes consulted on meteor stories,
I think, as are the "official" contacts at IMO. But in many cases the feature
writers for even these respected amateur astronomy magazines are simply using
information from old books, or unvetted sources, someone who happens to write
in with an interesting-sounding letter, or even just from memory or who knows
where, when they compile their *meteor* items.
This is a shame, but ultimately, it is our fault as active amateurs in the
field: we are obviously failing to reach the press
Clear skies and well-reported meteor showers!
Lew Gramer
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