[meteorite-list] Draconids - Part 2 of 2

From: Bernd Pauli HD <bernd.pauli_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:37:33 2004
Message-ID: <3A337878.85F818AE_at_lehrer1.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de>

Sky & Telescope, October 1986, p. 324:

Draconid Meteor Show?

The Draconids may be very intense on October 8th or 9th of this year.
This meteor shower, also called the Giacobinids, is associated with
Comet Giacobini-Zinner and has put on spectacular shows in 1933 and
1946. In those cases, Earth encountered material that was both behind
the comet and inside its orbit.
In 1985, Japanese observers reported significant activity, with rates
briefly attaining several hundred Draconids per hour. However, I believe
the main concentration was missed, and that 1986 offers a better chance
for a great shower, even though the Earth is farther from the comet.
Depending on a number of assumptions, Earth may cross the debris stream
between 19.2 hours Universal time on October 8th and 10.7 hours on the
9th. The radiant should be near the head of Draco. This is an evening
shower and must be observed shortly after sunset, even though a Moon
just one day before first quarter will interfere to some extent. The
stream is famous for bright meteors.
If this prediction holds, the shower may be visible from northern South
America and Europe, North America, and Hawaii. I would appreciate
receiving reports of this event and will send all contributing observers
a final report of the results.

Ignacio Ferrin
Apartado 700
Merida 5101-A, Venezuela

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Sky & Telescope, December 1987, p. 658:

Intense meteor shower

A few times this century meteors have rained from the heavens. Take, for
example, the October 9, 1933 and 1946, Giacobinid showers, when, for an
hour, tens of thousands of meteors could be seen pouring from the head
of Draco. Although similar activity was anticipated every 13 years since
the 1946 display, it had not recurred. Now visual data from the Nippon
Meteor Society (NMS) in Japan point to a meek revival of the Giacobinids
in 1985.
After analysing observations from 50 individuals and 10 groups who
participated in its Giacobini Project, the NMS estimates that the time
of maximum activity was October 8th at about 10h 10m UT. Around that
time, an average of 154 meteors fell from the sky per hour, and one
count was 325 meteors per hour. To confirm that these meteors were
indeed Giacobinids, the NMS used a pair of photographs of the same
meteor and calculated its orbital elements. Its orbit matched that of
Comet Giacobini-Zinner, the shower's parent body.
Several NMS members determined the shower's radiant position visually
and photographically. But by far the most accurate measurement came from
a TV camera. The result - right ascension 17h 34m, declination 55°.8
(1950.0) - was 2° from the shower's predicted radiant. The NMS's full
report appears in the journal Icarus, Vol. 70, pages 138-145.


Best Sunday wishes,

Bernd
Received on Sun 10 Dec 2000 07:35:04 AM PST