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NAMN Notes:  October 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.  Orionids - Meteors from Halley's Comet...
2.  Watch for Draconids!...
3.  Other October Showers...
4.  Upcoming Meetings...
5.  For more info...


1.  Orionids - Meteors from Halley's Comet...

October brings the Orionids - debris from Halley's Comet!  The Orionids
(ORI) reach a maximum on October 21st, although can be seen from about
October 2nd until November 7th.  Like the upcoming Leonids in November,
these are fast meteors at about 66 km per second.

ZHR rates for this shower are about 20 meteors per hour.  ZHR refers to
Zenithal Hourly Rate and is the number of meteors, on average, that an
observer would see with the unaided eye if they were out under a dark
country sky, and if the radiant, the area in the sky where the meteors
seem to come from, is directly overhead.

Where is the radiant for the Orionids?  It moves.  A map showing the
movement from October 2nd to November 7th can be found on the website
of the International Meteor Organization (IMO) at
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal01.html#Orionids


On the date of maximum activity, the 21st, the radiant will be at 095
degrees, ie. RA 6h 19.8m, Dec +16, which is located by following a
line from the right star of the belt of Orion up through Betelgeuse, the
left shoulder star, and continuing on for about the same distance again. 
In the IMO 2002 Meteor Shower Calendar, the maximum on the 21st is listed as
being at about 15h UT, Universal Time.

But wait - the Orionids occur on full moon this year, the 'Hunter's
Moon' as it is called this month.  This will wash out the sky, and make
fainter stars harder to see.	This also means that you will see fewer faint
meteors.  Is it still worth observing this?	Yes, definitely!  The enhanced rates
will last for several days around the maximum, according to the IMO, not
just one night.	This means that you won't always have the full moon right
overhead. You can also block the moon with a tree, your house, or even
something as simple as a dark umbrella!

Because the Orionids are at full moon this year, this is also a very
good time to check out full moon observing - as the famous Leonids coming
next month will also occur at full moon.  For visual observing, check out
your limiting magnitude to see how faint you can see with a bright moon. 
Try the umbrella trick, and check your faintest star with the moon blocked. 
For photography, try out your camera and tripod with various types of
film to see what works best on the stars and meteors with a full moon in the
sky. The Orionids are a month before Leonids.  We are on countdown.	Use
this unique opportunity as a test run for your Leonid observing!

The parent body of the Orionid meteors is the famous Halley's Comet.
Halley, of course, did not discover this comet - its appearance has
been traced back to 240 B.C.  However, through his studies of orbits, he
was the one who noticed the similarity between this comet's orbit and those
of a number of comets that had been seen before, and made the connection
that all these were sightings of the same comet.  For this, his name was
attached for posterity!

Mark the days around October 21st on your calendar, and get out to
take a look at these shooting stars from Halley's Comet!


2.  Watch for Draconids!...

The Draconids (GIA), also known as the Giacobinids, reach a maximum on
October 8th, and are worth watching for any surprises!  These are slow
meteors, at about 20 km per second - so will be really spectacular to
observe.  They have also been known to storm on rare occasions just
like the Leonids, producing thousands of shooting stars for the observer
to see! They can be seen from about October 6th to 10th.

The radiant of this shower at maximum is at 262 degrees, ie. RA 17h
28.2m, Dec +54, which is just north of the star beta Draconis, also known as
Restaban, in the head of Draco.  This shower is named both after the
constellation from where the meteors come, and after the parent body
of the meteors, Comet Giacobini-Zinner.  This comet returns about every 6.61
years. For a map showing the position of the radiant, check out
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal02.html#Draconids.


The International Meteor Organization, talks about this shower in
its 2002 IMO Meteor Shower Calendar:

"The Draconids are primarily a periodic shower which produced
spectacular, brief, meteor storms twice last century, in 1933 and 1946, and 
lower rates in several other years (ZHR's about 20-500+), most recently in 1998
when the ZHR reached about 700 briefly over the Far East.  Almost all the
detected showers were seen in years when the stream's parent comet,
21P/Giacobini-Zinner, returned to perihelion, as last in 1998
November. The next return of the comet is in mid 2005.... However, in 1999 a 
wholly unexpected minor outburst was witnessed from the Far East...  This
could imply a peak might be seen as late as 2002 October 9, 3.15-6.30 UT,
using the 1999-equivalent timing...The nearly-new Moon makes this an almost
ideal year to see what the shower yields... "


3.  Other October Showers...

The delta Aurigids (DAU), although having reached a maximum on September
8th, can be seen until about October 10th.  These are fast meteors,
with a velocity of about 64 km per second.  On the 10th the radiant will be
at 95 degrees, ie. RA 6h 19.8m, Dec +49, which is very near the star psi#1
Auriga. There is a questionable link between these meteors and Comet
Bradfield, C/1972 E1.  At maximum in early September, the ZHR rates were about 6
meteors per hour, but rates in October will be very low.  For a map
showing the radiant position, check out
http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal02.html#delta-Aurigids.


The epsilon Geminids (EGE) reach a maximum on October 18th, but can
be seen from about the 14th to 27th.  On the 18th, the radiant will be at 102
degrees, ie. RA 6h 48m, Dec +27, which is several degrees north of
the star epsilon Gemini, also known as Mebsuta.	These are fast meteors, at
about 70 km per second.	These meteors might be associated with either Comet
Ikeya, C/1964 N1, or Comet Nishikawa-Takamizawa-Tago, C/1987 B1.  ZHR rates
for this shower are about 2 meteors per hour at maximum.  For a map of the
radiant, check out http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal01.html#Orionids.


The northern Taurids (NTA) and southern Taurids (STA) start to become
active about October 1st but do not reach maximums until early November. 
Both have fairly slow meteors, with the northern Taurid velocity at 29 km
per second and the southern at 27 km per second.  At maximum, both
showers will have ZHR rates of about 5 meteors per hour, but rates in October 
will be much lower.  On October 10th, near the time of the Draconids, the NTA
radiant will be at 29 degrees, ie. RA 1h 55.8m, Dec +14, which is about 7
degrees south of the star beta Aries, the star known as Sharatan. 
The STA radiant on the 10th will be at 31 degrees, ie. RA 2h 4.2m, Dec +8,
which is about 5 degrees north of the star alpha Pisces.  These meteors are
part of the Taurid stream which in turn has been associated with Comet Encke.
For a map showing the movement of the Taurid radiants over October and
November,
check out http://www.imo.net/calendar/cal02.html#Taurids.


For information on minor showers visible in October - and there is always
minor activity - check out Gary Kronk's "Comets and Meteor Showers" website
at http://comets.amsmeteors.org.

Besides recognized main showers and other minor showers, there is also
sporadic meteor activity in October.  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.

This month, the phases of the moon are as follows:
Sunday Oct. 6  - new moon
Sunday Oct. 13 - first quarter
Monday Oct. 21 - full moon, 'Hunter's Moon'
Tuesday Oct. 29 - last quarter

Planets at midmonth are:
Mercury, low in morning twilight at mag. -0.2
Mars in Virgo, low in morning twilight at mag. 1.8
Jupiter in Cancer at mag. -2.0
Saturn in Orion at mag. -0.1

For information on what to record when meteor observing, check out
our NAMN Observing Guide at http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html

For recording sheets for your meteors, go to
http://www.namnmeteors.org/reports.html

For some great star charts with standard stars marked, to use in
estimating the brightness of the meteors you see, go to
http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html

And - if you have any questions on observing, drop a note to our NAMN
Coordinator at meteors@comcast.net



4. Upcoming Meetings...

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


5. For more info...

NAMN email: namn@atmob.org

NAMN website: http://www.namnmeteors.org

Mark Davis, meteors@comcast.net

Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network

Cathy Hall, chall@cyberus.ca

Metcalfe, Ontario, Canada
Co-author, NAMN Notes

Lew Gramer, dedalus@alum.mit.edu

Medford, Massachusetts, USA
Coordinator, Public Outreach
Owner/Moderator, 'MeteorObs'

Kevin Kilkenny, 4Meteors@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.mit.edu


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Here's to 'Clear Skies' for October...

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