Camelopardalids meteor shower

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Pigeon
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Camelopardalids meteor shower

Post by Pigeon » Fri May 23, 2014 12:22 pm

Best time CDT is 1 - 3 AM. (6 to 8 UTC)

209P/LINEAR is a periodic comet, that is, its orbit around the sun is relatively short so that we see the comet come close to the sun again and again. Comet 209P/LINEAR’s orbit brings it near the sun in just over 5 years. Its last perihelion passage was May 6, 2014. Interestingly, the debris we’ll encounter is not fresh debris left by the comet during its 2014 perihelion passage. Instead, we’ll be passing through a stream of cometary debris left behind by Comet 209P/LINEAR in the 1800s.

Image

So far,given the observations, we estimate a ZHR (zenithal hourly rate) of 100/hr to 400/hr, which is an excellent outburst! But this shower can become an exceptional one. Indeed, given the current orbit of the comet, all the trails ejected between 1803 and 1924 do fall in the Earth’s path in May 2014! As a consequence, this shower might as well be a storm.

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Royal
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Re: Camelopardalids meteor shower

Post by Royal » Sat May 24, 2014 4:04 am

Cloudy here. Dang.


How are the skies over there?

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Pigeon
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Re: Camelopardalids meteor shower

Post by Pigeon » Sat May 24, 2014 3:16 pm

Went to bed due to overcast skies. Got up at 4am and it was fairly clear. Lots of stars and the Milky Way. Didn't see one meteor.

From meteor storm to drought it seems.

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Royal
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Re: Camelopardalids meteor shower

Post by Royal » Sat May 24, 2014 7:14 pm

Pigeon wrote:Went to bed due to overcast skies. Got up at 4am and it was fairly clear. Lots of stars and the Milky Way. Didn't see one meteor.

From meteor storm to drought it seems.
the hype appeared out of nowhere. I was suspicious.

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