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(meteorobs) NAMN Notes: September 2001
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NAMN Notes: September 2001
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Introduction:
NAMN Notes is a monthly newsletter produced by the North American Meteor
Network, and is available both via email, and on the NAMN website at:
http://www.namnmeteors.org
Contents:
1. Auriga - Meteors!...
2. Other September Showers...
3. Canadian Comet Found at Star Party...
4. How to Get Started Observing...
5. Recent Observations...
6. Our New Website Domain...
7. Upcoming Meetings...
8. For more info...
1. Auriga - Meteors!...
Auriga holds several pleasant surprises for us this month - two different
meteor showers!
The main meteor shower for the month of September is the alpha Aurigids
(AUR). These reach a maximum real early in the month - on September
1st! The radiant for this shower will be at 084 degrees, ie RA 5h 36m, Dec
+42, which is about 5 degrees to the left of the star eta Auriga, the star
known as Hoedus II, 'the Charioteer's 2nd kid goat'. These are fast
meteors, with a velocity of about 66 km per second. The Zenithal
Hourly Rate (ZHR) on September 1st will be about 10 meteors per hour. This
is the number of meteors that a person could expect to see with the unaided
eye, from a dark country sky, if the radiant, the area in the sky that the
meteors seem to come from, is directly overhead.
Although severely hampered this year by the full moon, the alpha Aurigids
are still worth watching in case rates increase dramatically! According to
the Handbook of the International Meteor Organization (IMO): "The
activity level of the alpha Aurigids seems to vary from one year to the
next, and can occasionally reach three to five times the... normal ZHR
value of 10." These meteors reach a relatively sharp maximum around
September 1st, and can be seen in lesser numbers only until about September
5th, so catch them early in the month!
The alpha Aurigids are believed to be associated with Comet Kiess 1911 II,
a comet seen only every 2500 years or so.
The delta Aurigids (DAU) reach a maximum on September 8th, a week after the
alpha Aurigids. The radiant on the 8th for the delta's is at 060 degrees,
ie RA 4h 00m, Dec +47, which is technically not in Auriga. The radiant is
about 3 degrees to the left of the star delta Perseus. These are also fast
meteors, with a velocity of about 64 km per second. The ZHR rate at
maximum will be about 6 meteors per hour. Activity from this shower
continues through until about October 10th. The parent body responsible
for these meteors is uncertain.
Auriga is the Charioteer, and is depicted in mythology as a herdsman
holding a she-goat (the star Capella) and two kids. Under a dark sky, it
is a beautiful constellation and heralds the coming of fall for meteor
observers.
2. Other September Showers...
September is a quiet month for other showers, with all the busy summer
activity winding down.
The Piscids (SPI) last for the whole month of September, but reach a
maximum on September 19th. The radiant on that date will be at 005
degrees, ie RA 0h 19.8m, Dec -01, which is about 15 degrees south of gamma
Pegasus, the bottom left star of the 'Great Square' of Pegasus. These are
nice slow meteors, with a velocity of about 26 km per second. ZHR rates on
the 19th will be about 3 meteors per hour, with rates the rest of the month
being less.
There are always other minor showers as well, but ones that are not always
included on the IMO "Working List of Visual Meteor Showers". For extra
reading, you can check out Gary Kronk's "Comets and Meteor Showers" website
at http://comets.amsmeteors.org. For September, Kronk gives details on the
Aries-Triangulid activity around September 12th, at
http://comets.amsmeteors.org/meteors/showers/aries_triangulids.html.
Besides recognized showers, there is also sporadic meteor activity in
September, about 7 meteors per hour visible to the unaided eye. This
activity is comprised partly of random meteor activity and partly meteors
that belong to long-ago, now untraceable showers.
Full moon this month is on Sunday, September 2nd - right at alpha Aurigid
time. Last quarter moon is on Monday, September 10th, new moon on Monday,
September 17th, and first quarter on Monday, September 24th.
There are tons of planets in the morning sky in September - and these make
wonderful guideposts for judging the brightness or magnitude of the
brighter meteors you see. Venus is at magnitude -4, the brightest object
in the sky apart from the moon. Jupiter, in Gemini, is next brightest at
magnitude -2.2 for most of the month. Even in binoculars, if you hold them
real steady on a tripod, you can see several moons of Jupiter close
by. Saturn, in Taurus, is fainter at about -0.4 for most of the month and
is harder for beginners to spot. It is yellowish, and does not twinkle as
much as a star. In binoculars - and you do need a tripod for this - you can
see the rings of Saturn. They are very tiny, but you can see them.
Did you see Venus go behind the moon back in July? In September, the moon
occults Saturn on Monday, September 10th at 13h UT, visible from the United
States, Hawaii, southern Canada, and the Caribbean. On Wednesday September
12th at 12h UT, Jupiter is occulted by the moon, visible from Europe except
the southwest including British Isles, northern Russia, the Arctic, Alaska,
and northern Canada. Are these things meteor related? Well, not exactly -
but you do need to learn where the planets are if you want to get to know
the sky well for your meteor observing!
3. Canadian Comet Found at Star Party...
Amateur observers have a new comet in the sky! It was discovered by a
Canadian amateur, Vance Petriew, observing at the Cypress Hills Star Party
in Saskatchewan on the weekend of August 18/19. Comets are always of
interest to meteor observers - as many of them generate the various meteor
showers that we observe throughout the year!
This comet's position at discovery (RA 5h 31.9m, Dec +28 08) was extremely
close to the star Beta Tauri, the magnitude 1.65 star called Alnath.
Although
technically in the constellation of Taurus, we usually consider Alnath to be
the
bottom right star of the constellation of Auriga. The comet is visible in
amateur
scopes, but dark skies are recommended.
In Petriew's own words (from emails posted to the RASC email list August 19
and 20):
"I'm afraid my mind isn't on work today since this past weekend I did
something that most amateur astronomers only dream of. I discovered a new
comet C/2001 Q2 at 4.00 AM Saturday morning while most people were
sleeping. The comet will be named after me when the orbit is determined...
It's pretty cool to have a space rock named after me and I'm very excited!"
"I stumbled across the comet by accident and almost passed by it since I
was looking for M1 (and started at the wrong star). When I found it, I
went looking at my star charts to see if I could tell which galaxy I was
possibly looking at. Luckily, Richard Huziak of the RASC - Saskatoon
Center, happened to walk over for the first time that night. I told him I
was trying to find out what it was and he said that it's no galaxy.... I'm
ecstatic! Yahoo! Talk about putting Regina and Cypress Hills on the map!"
From the email sent by Dan Green of Harvard to Petriew:
> Congratulations! It looks like you have a confirmation:
> Circular No. 7686
> Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
> INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
> COMET 2001 Q2
> Vance Avery Petriew, Regina, SK, reports his visual discovery
> of a comet during a star party at Cyprus Hills, Saskatchewan, as
> shown below. The object's presence was also confirmed visually by
> R. Huziak (0.25-m reflector) and P. Campbell (0.32-m reflector) at
> Cyprus Hills. The observations by A. Hale were made following a
> request by the Central Bureau.
> 2001 UT R.A. (2000) Decl. m1 Observer
> Aug. 18.42 5 31.9 +28 08 11.0 Petriew
> 19.45502 5 37 59.10 +27 47 07.8 13.2 Hale
> 19.46173 5 38 01.45 +27 46 58.4 13.0 "
> 19.47459 5 38 05.77 +27 46 45.4 13.4 "
> 19.48078 5 38 07.88 +27 46 36.9 13.4 "
> V. A. Petriew (Cyprus Hills, SK). Round coma of diameter 3' with
> condensed nucleus and no tail. 0.51-m f/5 reflector at 80x.
> Motion about 2' to the southeast over an hour. Magnitude
> approximate.
> A. Hale (Cloudcroft, NM). 0.20-m Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector +
> CCD. Visual observations with a 0.41-m reflector on Aug. 19.47
> showed a coma diameter of 2'.5 and m_1 = 11.0.
Note that the visual magnitude at discovery was 11, not 13. The comet will
be in Gemini in early September. More info on positions and magnitudes
will be available soon - stay tuned to the following sites:
Skyhound
http://www.skyhound.com/sh/skyhound.html
Weekly Information about Bright Comets
http://www.aerithdot net/comet/weekly/current.html
& Comet Rendezvous Calendar
http://www.aerithdot net/comet/rendezvous/current.html
4. How to Get Started Observing...
Are you new to meteors? Were the Perseids your first big shower, and you
now want to find out more about these fascinating flying pieces of comet
debris? Well, you've come to the right place!
The North American Meteor Network (NAMN), is a group dedicated to teaching
beginners all about meteors, and training them if they are interested, to
collect data that is valuable to all kinds of meteor researchers around the
globe. We observe, but we have fun!
We have a wonderful Observing Guide for meteors on our website, at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html.
Things we record when we observe meteors include the time of each meteor,
its brightness, its speed (ie slow, average, fast), what shower it belongs
to, and any other characteristics such as color, or train left behind.
We have created a great set of star charts for use by meteor observers.
Print the set of 4 of them from our website at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html. These charts show the
constellations, sky coordinates in RA and Dec ("Right Ascension" and
"Declination"), and the magnitudes of stars useful to use as standards for
judging the brightness of the meteors you see.
Want a list of all the main meteor showers for the year? Print a list off
from http://www.namnmeteors.org/2001targets.html. This list is adapted from
the "Working List of Visual Meteor Showers" of the IMO.
Explore our NAMN website at http://ww.namnmeteors.org! We have many neat
things there to help you learn about meteors, and many linked resources for
more detailed reading. If you have questions, drop a note to one of our
NAMN
volunteers:
Our NAMN Coordinator:
Mark Davis, SC.meteors@home.com
Our fireball & meteorite contact:
Kevin Kilkenny, KevTK@aol.com
Our public education & outreach coordinator:
Lew Gramer, dedalus@alum.mitdot edu
Our NAMN co-author and Canadian contact:
Cathy Hall, chall@cyberusdot ca
5. Recent Observations...
Since the last issue of NAMN Notes, there has been quite a bit of meteor
activity. Most of it has come from the many streams of July, but quite a few
reports covering the Perseids were also received. These will be covered in
an upcoming article.
Twenty-three observers sent in reports made during June or July. These
provided coverage of nineteen July nights. The observers included:
Jure Atanackov, Slovenia
Soheil Khoshbin Far, Iran
George Gliba, USA
Robin Gray, USA
Amir Hasanzadeh, Iran
Roberto Haver, Italy
Ken Hodonsky, USA
Javor Kac, Slovenia
Robert Lunsford, USA
Pierre Martin, Canada
Norman McLeod, USA
Koen Miskotte, Greece
Ali Moosazadeh, Iran
Catrin Reulbach, Germany
Mazyar Seyyednezhad, Iran
James Smith, Germany
Wes Stone, USA
David Swann, USA
Attila Szalai, Hungary
Harry Waldron, USA
Kim Youmans, USA
Jure Zakrajsek, Slovenia
Bo Zhou, China
The international character of NAMN is becoming more apparent as thirteen of
these twenty-three observers were from locations outside of North America.
We hope to be able to increase this networking with individuals and meteor
groups worldwide.
Thanks go to all of these observers who took the time to monitor meteor
activity, and report it to the NAMN!
Below is a listing of all of the observations we received since the last
issue, and which were obtained during either June or July (since August
reports are still coming in, they will be listed in the near future). To
save some space, we are using the three-letter abbreviation for the names of
reported meteor showers. To aid readers unfamiliar with these abbreviations,
a table is included with their definitions.
June 25/26:
Robin Gray (Teff=0.61, 14 SPO)
June 27/28:
Robin Gray (Teff=1.00, 1 JBO, 23 SPO)
June 28/29:
Robin Gray (Teff=1.03, 17 SPO)
July 1/2:
Robin Gray (Teff=1.00, 3 SAG, 23 SPO)
July 10/11:
James Smith (Teff=0.75, 1 ALY, 1 SPO)
July 13/14:
Catrin Reulbach (Teff=1.00, 1 ALY, 1 CAP, 1 PER, 1 SPO); James Smith
(Teff=1.00, 1 ALY, 1 CAP, 2 PER, 6 SPO)
July 14/15:
George Gliba (Teff=1.00, 1 PAU, 1 PER, 2 SAG, 6 SPO)
July 15/16:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=0.17, 9 SPO); Robert Lunsford (Teff=1.39, 1 ACG, 1 CAP,
1 NDA, 1 PAU, 3 PER, 8 SPO); Pierre Martin (Teff=1.10, 1 JPE, 1 NDA, 1 SAG,
1 SDA, 12 SPO)
July 16/17:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=1.18, 1 CAP, 26 SPO); Javor Kac (Teff=1.15, 1 AQR, 1
CAP, 10 SPO)
July 17/18:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=3.14, 4 AQR, 4 PER, 82 SPO); Javor Kac (Teff=2.50, 3
PER, 42 SPO); Robert Lunsford (Teff=3.61, 4 ACG, 6 CAP, 2 NDA, 3 PER, 3 SDA,
35 SPO)
July 19/20:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=2.72, 3 CAP, 5 PER, 54 SPO); Javor Kac (Teff=2.25, 2
CAP, 26 SPO); Pierre Martin (Teff=3.45, 3 ACG, 2 CAP, 2 NDA, 1 PAU, 4 PER, 2
SAG, 4 SDA, 48 SPO)
July 20/21:
Pierre Martin (Teff=1.71, 1 NDA, 1 PER, 2 SAG, 1 SDA, 12 SPO)
July 21/22:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=1.61, 4 PER, 40 SPO); Javor Kac (Teff=1.53, 1 AQR, 5
PER, 13 SPO); David Swann (Teff=4.00, 1 CAP, 3 PER, 2 SDA, 26 SPO); Kim
Youmans (Teff=1.08, 2 CAP, 2 PER, 10 SPO); Jure Zakrajsek (Teff=1.08, 5 PER,
26 SPO)
July 22/23:
Robert Lunsford (Teff=3.61, 2 ACG, 6 CAP, 2 NDA, 2 PER, 3 SDA, 24 SPO); Koen
Miskotte (Teff=4.29, 18 AQR, 10 CAP, 10 PCG, 12 PER, 1 SAG, 50 SPO)
July 23/24:
Koen Miskotte (Teff=4.11, 26 AQR, 6 CAP, 1 PAU, 3 PCG, 13 PER, 65 SPO)
July 24/25:
Ken Hodonsky (Teff=1.47, 1 CAP, 1 NDA, 5 PER, 3 SDA, 19 SPO); Pierre Martin
(Teff=1.05, 1 NDA, 10 SPO); Koen Miskotte (Teff=2.30, 11 AQR, 4 CAP, 10 PER,
31 SPO)
July 25/26:
Roberto Haver (Teff=2.39, 1 ACG, 5 CAP, 1 NDA, 4 PER, 6 SDA, 15 SPO); Pierre
Martin (Teff=1.00, 1 CAP, 3 PER, 3 SCA, 2 SDA, 3 SPO); Wes Stone (Teff=2.00,
3 CAP, 3 NDA, 3 PER; 9 SDA, 28 SPO)
July 26/27:
Roberto Haver (Teff=3.27, 4 ACG, 3 CAP, 2 NDA, 12 PER, 15 SDA, 6 SIA, 26
SPO); Ken Hodonsky (Teff=1.75, 2 NDA, 1 PAU, 2 PER, 11 SDA, 17 SPO); Pierre
Martin (Teff=3.12, 2 CAP, 3 NDA, 7 PER, 3 SCA, 18 SDA, 37 SPO); Koen
Miskotte (Teff=3.66, 26 AQR, 7 CAP, 1 PAU, 17 PER, 50 SPO); Wes Stone
(Teff=2.00, 7 CAP, 4 NDA, 4 PAU, 10 PER, 8 SDA, 29 SPO)
July 27/28:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=4.58, 28 AQR, 11 CAP, 16 PER, 64 SPO); Soheil Khoshbin
Far (Teff=2.68, 3 CAP, 6 NDA, 1 PER, 3 SDA, 3 SIA, 22 SPO); Amir Hasanzadeh
(Teff=2.09, 1 NDA, 3 PER, 7 SDA, 10 SPO); Roberto Haver (Teff=2.87, 2 ACG, 4
CAP, 2 NDA, 11 PER, 15 SDA, 2 SIA, 20 SPO); Pierre Martin (Teff=3.35, 3 ACG,
3 CAP, 5 NDA, 17 PER, 3 SCA, 25 SDA, 44 SPO); Koen Miskotte (Teff=5.10, 44
AQR, 12 CAP, 20 PER, 75 SPO); Ali Moosazadeh (Teff=2.09, 2 NDA, 3 PER, 1
SDA, 1 SIA, 14 SPO); Wes Stone (Teff=1.25, 1 CAP, 3 NDA, 6 PER, 5 SDA, 33
SPO); Jure Zakrajsek (Teff=2.20, 10 AQR, 2 CAP, 7 PER, 37 SPO); Bo Zhou
(Teff=1.33, 1 NDA, 1 PAU, 2 PER, 3 SDA, 2 SPO)
July 28/29:
Jure Atanackov (Teff=2.18, 32 AQR, 8 CAP, 2 PAU, 9 PER, 42 SPO); Soheil
Khoshbin Far (Teff=0.50, 2 NDA, 2 SIA, 3 SPO); Amir Hasanzadeh (Teff=2.75,
10 NDA, 9 PER, 4 SDA, 1 SIA, 22 SPO); Roberto Haver (Teff=2.46, 2 ACG, 4
CAP, 1 NDA, 7 PER, 14 SDA, 20 SPO); Norman McLeod (Teff=3.03, 7 CAP, 4 NDA,
3 PAU, 9 PER, 14 SDA, 1 SIA, 21 SPO); Koen Miskotte (Teff=3.28, 38 AQR, 5
CAP, 3 KCG, 1 PAU, 17 PER, 36 SPO); Ali Moosazadeh (Teff=2.00, 4 CAP, 4 NDA,
2 SDA, 3 SIA, 13 SPO); Mazyar Seyyednezhad (Teff=1.10, 1 NDA, 1 PER, 8 SPO);
Wes Stone (Teff=2.00, 7 CAP, 5 NDA, 1 PAU, 4 PER, 13 SDA, 45 SPO); Attila
Szalai (Teff=4.00, 3 CAP, 1 JBO, 1 NDA, 2 ODR, 2 PAU, 8 PER, 12 SDA, 34
SPO); Jure Zakrajsek (Teff=1.60, 9 AQR, 5 CAP, 4 PER, 24 SPO)
July 29/30:
Koen Miskotte (Teff=3.18, 45 AQR, 5 CAP, 2 KCG, 19 PER, 33 SPO)
July 30/31:
Koen Miskotte (Teff=2.84, 41 AQR, 1 CAP, 3 KCG, 25 PER, 26 SPO); Wes Stone
(Teff=1.00, 2 CAP, 2 NDA, 3 PER, 6 SDA, 16 SPO)
Shower Codes:
ACG - Alpha Cygnids
ALY - Alpha Lyrids
AQR - Aquarid radiants combined
CAP - Alpha Capricornids
JBO - June Bootids
JPE - July Pegasids
KCG - Kappa Cygnids
NDA - Northern Delta Aquarids
ODR - Omicron Draconids
PAU - Piscis Austrinids
PCG - Phi Cygnids
PER - Perseids
SAG - Sagittarids
SCA - Sigma Capricornids
SDA - Southern Delta Aquarids
SIA - Southern Iota Aquarids
SPO - Sporadics
[NOTE: All observations were provided to the International Meteor
Organization by either the observer or NAMN.]
6. Our New Website Domain...
NAMN has a new domain for our website! This new web address is much easier
to remember than our old one. We are now at www.namnmeteors.org. Thanks go
out to Lew Gramer for setting this up for us and getting us transferred over
to our new home!
If you have any bookmarks for NAMN, please change them at this time. And,
if you know of additional web sites that you think would like a link to us,
let our NAMN Coordinator know at SC.meteors@home.com. Note that this is a
new email address for our Coordinator as well!
7. Upcoming Meetings...
Final notice for our annual international meteor get-together! Come join
us in Europe and meet your fellow meteor observers!!
From September 20th to 23rd, the IMO will hold its annual get-together in
Slovenia, the country just south of Austria, and within driving distance
from Venice or just about any other main city in Europe! All amateur and
professional meteor observers are invited to attend, give and listen to
talks, and meet observers from around the globe.
So far, we have observers coming from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Canada, China, Croatia, Germany, India, Japan, Netherlands, Poland, Romania,
Slovenia, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia.
There will be a tour during the conference to the famous Postojnska Caves,
with its 20 km of underground caverns. What a wonderful way to test your
astronomical dark adaptation!
Registration is still possible - all are welcome! Contact Mihaela Triglav,
of the organizing committee, directly at mtriglav@yahoo.com.
More details can be found on the IMO website at http://www.imodot net.
Hope to see you there!
8. For more info...
Contact:
Mark Davis, SC.meteors@home.com
Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network
And check out:
NAMN home page:
http://www.namnmeteors.org
Back issues of NAMN Notes can be found on-line at the NAMN website, and
in the meteorobs archives at:
http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs
by selecting 'Browse Archive by Month'
To subscribe to the meteor email list or
To find out information on our weekly chat sessions:
Contact Lew Gramer at:
dedalus@alum.mitdot edu
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Here's to 'Clear Skies' for September...
September 2001 NAMN Notes co-written
by Mark Davis and Cathy Hall
============================================
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