Meteor Activity Outlook
Nov. 3 - 9, 2000
contributed by Robert Lunsford
Secretary General of the International Meteor Organization

If you are new to meteor-watching, you may wish to consult our Meteor Glossary
as you read this week's forecast.

The moon reaches its first quarter phase on Saturday, November 4. At this time it will be near the meridian at sunset and will set near midnight. This leaves the prime morning hours free of any interfering moonlight. Activity from the Taurid radiant will dominate the scene this week. Soon afterward the moon will be too bright for observing and will not allow decent viewing conditions until the Leonid maximum on November 17. The radiant positions listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning November 4/5. The positions do not change greatly day to day so these positions may be used during this entire period.

This week we start with a radiant listed among the showers of the Dutch Meteor Society. The Delta Eridanids is a very weak radiant now situated at 03:16 (049) -03 (what does this mean?). This position lies in northwestern Eridanus near the borders of Cetus and Taurus. I would watch for these meteors after moonset when the radiant lies near the meridian. This would be near midnight this weekend and later as we enter next week. These meteors would have characteristics similar to the Taurids. However, with such low rates I would be surprised if any of these meteors are actually seen.

The Antihelion radiant is centered at 03:52 (058) +20. This position lies in western Taurus just 5 degrees southeast from the Pleiades cluster. The bright planet Saturn is also a good guide as it lies only 3 degrees south of the radiant. This area of the sky is best placed on the meridian near 0100 local standard time. The Taurids are
now peaking in activity so as many as 5 meteors per hour may appear from this source. These meteors will all appear slow no matter where they are in the sky.

The Orionids are now well past maximum activity but still producing a few shower members each hour when located high in the sky. The radiant position now lies at 07:00 (105) +17 which is in southern Gemini between
the bright stars Gamma and Lambda Geminorum. The radiant is not sharp and there have been suggestions that subradiants are active nearby. The radiant rises near 2100 LST (9:00 pm) but is best seen during the last few hours before dawn when it lies high in the southern sky as seen from northern latitudes. The Orionids are normally swift meteors but those seen near the radiant or near the horizon will appear to travel more slowly.

The Zeta Puppids is another radiant listed among the showers of the Dutch Meteor Society. The current radiant position is 07:24 (111) -40. This position is in central Puppis 15 degrees northeast of the brilliant star Canopus. Due to the southerly declination this shower would be better seen from the Southern Hemisphere. It reaches its highest
elevation near 0400 so this would be the best time to try to see any activity. This week the hourly rates could be near 2 for observers south of the equator and less than 1 for observers in the north temperate areas. Shower members would be slow if seen near the radiant or horizon and medium speed if seen far from the radiant or high in the sky.

The Northern Apex is now located at 08:52 (133) +32. This position lies in extreme northern Cancer. Since this radiant is diffuse any meteors from the southern portion of Lynx, northeastern Gemini, northwestern Leo, or northern Cancer would be a good candidate. As seen from the Northern Hemisphere this source should still be quite active producing 4-5 meteors per hour near dawn. From the Southern Hemisphere this source would be much lower in the sky and only producing 1-2 meteors per hour.

The Southern Apex source lies exactly 30 degrees south of its northern counterpart at 08:52 (133) +02. This position lies in northwestern Hydra just a few degrees south of the "head" of the water serpent. Any swift
meteor from western Hydra or southern Cancer has a good chance of being from this source. As seen from the Northern Hemisphere this source should produce 2-3 meteors per hour near dawn. Similar rates would be
seen from the Southern Hemisphere.

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