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(meteorobs) NAMN Notes: June 2002



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NAMN Notes:  June 2002
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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.  Meteor Debris from Comet Pons-Winnecke...
2.  Other June Showers...
3.  Astro Links for Observers...
4.  Upcoming Meetings...
5.  For more info...


1.  Meteor Debris from Comet Pons-Winnecke...

Comets have been in our astro news lately, with a nice showing of Comet
Ikeya-Zhang these past couple months.  In June, we are fortunate to have
some interesting comet debris to observe - the meteors known as the June
Bootids!

The June Bootids (JBO) reach a maximum on June 27th, but can be seen from
about June 26th to July 2nd.  At maximum, the radiant will be at 224
degrees, ie RA 14h 55.8m, Dec +48, which is about 8 degrees north of the
star beta Bootes, the star known as Nekkar.  These are slow meteors, with a
velocity of about 18 km per second, so will be quite distinctive.  To see a
map of the radiant, the area in the sky where the meteors will seem to come
from, check out http://www.imodot net/calendar/cal01.html#June-Bootids.

The number of meteors that can be seen is variable.  In 1998, there was an
outburst, with ZHR rates ranging from 50 to over 100 meteors per hour,
visible for over half a day.  What is ZHR?  ZHR stands for Zenithal Hourly
Rate, and is the number of meteors that an observer would expect to see
under a dark country sky if the radiant was directly overhead.  Because of
possible outbursts, all observations of this meteor shower are encouraged!

These meteors are debris from Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke.  The comet was
discovered from Marseilles, France on June 12, 1819 by the famous comet
hunter Jean Louis Pons.  It was accidentally rediscovered on March 9th, 1858
by F.A. Winnecke of Bonn, Germany.  Both names were used for the comet.
Under present-day comet naming conventions, Winnecke would have been out of
luck with such an expanse of time between sightings.  The comet reached its
most recent perihelion in May 2002.

So, get out and take a look at the meteors from this comet!  If you need
some information on what to record while watching for your meteors, check
out our NAMN Observing Guide at http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html.  If
you have any questions, drop a note to our NAMN Coordinator at
meteors@comcastdot net.

For some good charts to use in estimating meteor magnitudes, or for plotting
meteor radiants on, print yourself off a set of our 4 NAMN star charts at
http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html.


2.  Other June Showers...

The Sagittarids (SAG) continue into June, and will last until about
mid-July.  These meteors are believed to be debris from a number of unknown
bodies.  The radiant follows along the ecliptic as it moves throughout the
month.  These meteors are almost slow, with a velocity of about 30 km per
second - but still much faster than the June Bootids.

ZHR rates for the Sagittarids are about 5 meteors per hour.  Fireballs have
been associated with this shower - so stay alert!  On June 10th, the radiant
for this shower will be at 265 degrees, ie RA 17h 40.2m, Dec -23, and by
June 25th, will have moved to 280 degrees, ie RA 18h 40.2m, Dec -23.

Besides recognized main showers, other minor showers, and even daytime
meteor showers, there is also sporadic meteor activity in June.  This
sporadic activity is about 7 meteors per hour, visible to the unaided eye.
This activity is comprised partly of random meteors and partly of meteors
that belong to long-ago, now untraceable showers.

If you want to do some more reading on minor showers that are not on the
'Working List of Visual Meteor Showers' of the International Meteor
Organization (IMO), then check out Gary Kronk's 'Comets and Meteor Showers'
website at http://comets.amsmeteors.org

These minor showers are best detected by plotting, as the rates are really
low.  Some of these include:

Tau Herculids, visible from about May 19 to June 19, with a maximum on June
9th, from a radiant at 236 degrees, ie RA 15h 43.8m, Dec +41, average
magnitude about 4.

Theta Ophiuchids, visible from about May 21 to June 16, with a maximum on
June 10, from a radiant at 265 degrees, ie RA 17h 40.2m, Dec -28.

June Lyrids, visible from about June 11 to 21, with a maximum on June 16,
from a radiant at 278 degrees, ie RA 18h 31.8m, Dec +35, average magnitude
about 3.  A map showing the radiant can be found at
http://www.imodot net/calendar/cal02.html#June-Lyrids

Ophiuchids, visible from about May 19 to July 2, with a maximum on June 20,
from a radiant at 263 degrees, ie RA 17h 31.8m, Dec -20, average magnitude
fainter than 3.

June Scutids, visible from about June 2 to July 29, with a maximum on June
27, from a radiant at 278 degrees, ie RA 18h 31.8m, Dec -4.

There are also some daylight meteor showers in June.  They are visible in
our daylight hours, so we cannot see these meteors at night.  However -
there have been occasional sightings of these meteors in the twilight hours
after dusk and before dawn.  The Arietids are the strongest daylight meteor
shower of the year, and last from about May 22 to July 2, with a maximum on
June 8th.  The radiant at that time is at 44.5 degrees, ie RA 2h 58.2m, Dec
+23.6.  Daylight rates at maximum reach about 60 meteors per hour.  Other
daylight showers in June include the zeta Perseids, with a maximum on June
13 and a radiant at 63 degrees, ie RA 4h 12m, Dec +26, and the beta Taurids,
with a maximum on June 29 and a radiant at 79.4 degrees, ie RA 5h 17.4m, Dec
+21.2.  There is additional information on these daylight showers on Kronk's
website as well.

In June, the moon phases are as follows:
Mon. June   3  last quarter
Mon. June 10  new moon
Tues. June 18  first quarter
Mon. June 24  full moon

The magnitudes of the planets in June are useful too:
Mercury  0.6  late in June, low in east before sunrise
Venus    -4.0  low in west after sunset
Mars      1.7   lost in evening twilight early in June
Jupiter   -1.9  low in west after sunset
On June 3rd, Venus and Jupiter will appear only about 1.6 degrees apart, so
take a look!


3.  Astro Links for Observers...

For those of you just getting into meteors - or for those of you more
experienced observers - there are a number of great websites to provide you
with all kinds of information.  Some of our favorite sites are the
following - and many of these are also on one of our handout sheets, 'Surf
the Astro Web'.  NAMN also has a 2002 NAMN brochure for astro groups and
events, and a one page handout on 'What are Meteors'.  All of these are
available by email on request from our NAMN Coordinator at
meteors@comcastdot net.

A great animated 'NASAtoon' on meteors for kids and adults alike:
http://kids.msfc.nasadot gov/SolarSystem/Meteors/MeteorsToon.asp

International Meteor Organization - for more serious meteor information, and
details on how to photograph and videotape meteors:
http://www.imodot net

Heavens Above - get great star charts that you can print off on your
computer, and find out when to see satellites and the space station go over
your home:
http://www.heavens-above.com

SpaceWeather.com - when to see the northern lights and special events:
http://www.spaceweather.com

Hawaiian Astronomical Society - learn the constellations - myths and maps:
http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/index.html

Weekly Information about Bright Comets, by Seiichi Yoshida:
http://www.aerithdot net/comet/weekly/current.html

The Nine Planets, by Bill Arnett - learn about the solar system:
http://www.seds.org/billa/tnp

Astronomy Boy - find out how to get started in astronomy:
http://www.astronomyboy.com

Personal Pages of Astronomers - read about others interested in astronomy:
http://my.voyagerdot net/~stargazer/personal.html

Michael Boschat's Astronomy Page - the best astronomy link list on the web:
http://www.atm.daldot ca/~boschat

And lastly - a great little email news service, provided by Harold Healy of
Sudbury, Canada, giving details on what's up in the sky every week:
"Skyline", available free by emailing hhealy@sympaticodot ca.  Check it out!


4.  Upcoming Meetings...

July 21-26, 2002, Los Angeles, California USA...
The 65th annual meeting of the Meteoritical Society will be held at the
University of California in Los Angeles.  Special sessions planned include
'Mars:  Meteorites and Missions' and 'Chondrule and CAI origins'.  For
information, check out http://www.lpi.usradot edu/meetings/metsoc2002

July 29-August 2, 2002, Berlin, Germany...
The Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 2002 Conference will be held in Berlin,
Germany.  Topics that will be covered include comets, asteroids, meteor
showers, interplanetary material, collisions and impacts, NEO's (near earth
objects), the asteroid-meteorite connection, transitional objects, origin of
comets, and many other related topics.  This is the 8th ACM conference in a
series, with a conference being held only every 3 years.  It is being
jointly organized by the DLR Institute of Space Sensor Technology and
Planetary Exploration, the Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy, and the
Technical University of Berlin.  For details, contact J. Benkhoff at
acm2002@dlrdot de and check out the ACM 2002 website at
http://berlinadmin.dlrdot de/SGF/acm2002

September 26-29, 2002, Frombork, Poland...
IMC 2002, the International Meteor Conference, will be held in Frombork,
Poland - land of Copernicus!  This is the annual conference of the IMO, the
International Meteor Organization, and welcomes all meteor observers, both
amateur and professional.  The conference is organized by CMW, the Polish
Comets and Meteors Workshop.  Besides the talks and discussions, there are
many interesting sites to visit, such as the tower where Nicolaus Copernicus
made many of his observations and the Radziejowski tower with its
astronomical planetarium.  For information, check out http://www.imodot net and
http://www.astrouwdot edu.pl/~olech/pkim/imc2002/imc.html.  For specific
questions, contact Mariusz Wisniewski at pkim@astrouwdot edu.pl

For more information on upcoming astronomy meetings, see:
"International Astronomy Meetings List"
http://cadcwww.hia.nrcdot ca/meetings


5.  For more info...

NAMN email:  namn@atmob.org
NAMN website:  http://www.namnmeteors.org

Mark Davis, meteors@comcastdot net
Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network

Cathy Hall, chall@cyberusdot ca
Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada
Co-author, NAMN Notes

Lew Gramer, dedalus@alum.mitdot edu
Medford, Massachusetts, USA
Coordinator, Public Outreach
Owner/Moderator, 'MeteorObs'

Kevin Kilkenny, Mail4Meteors@aol.com
Staten Island, New York, USA
Coordinator, Fireballs and Meteorites

Back issues of NAMN Notes can be found on-line at the NAMN website
and in the MeteorObs archives at:
http://www.meteorobs.org
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 June...

June 2002 NAMN Notes co-written
by Mark Davis and Cathy Hall

============================================




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