Electronic Telegram No. 309
Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams
INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION
M.S. 18, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
IAUSUBS@CFA.HARVARD.EDU or FAX 617-495-7231 (subscriptions)
CBAT@CFA.HARVARD.EDU (science)
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OCTOBER CAMELOPARDALIDS
     P. Jenniskens, SETI Institute, reports the detection of a
meteor radiant near the border of Cam and Dra (presumably due to
a 1-revolution dust trail of an unknown long period comet), found
in low-light-level video-camera images obtained during Oct.
5.712-5.945 UT by J. Moilanen (Vaala, Finland; wide field), E.
Lyytinen (Helsinki, Finland; half hour due to clouds), I. Yrjola
(Kuusankoski, Finland; smaller field-of-view), and S. Molau
(Seysdorf, Germany).  Of the 19 bright meteors (mag +1 to -6)
detected by Moilanen, twelve appeared to radiate from a compact
area near R.A. = 164.1 +/- 2.0 deg, Decl. = +78.9 +/- 0.5 deg
(equinox 2000.0).  Lyytinen calculated an apparent velocity of 47.4
+/- 0.5 km/s (close to the parabolic limit, 46.9 km/s) from one
two-station meteor.  Radio forward-scattering meteor data from the
Global-MS-Net (Yrjola and J. Brower, Kelowna, BC, Canada) show a
flurry of bright meteors (brightness ascertained from the echo
duration) between Oct. 5.75 and 5.95 but no significant enhancement
of faint (approximately mag 6) meteors.  Daily postings by W. Singer
indicate that the SkyMet meteor radar located at ALOMAR (at the
Andoya Rocket Range at Kuelungsborn, Norway) showed a drop in
rates at this time, presumably due to overdense echoes.  The shower
peak is calculated to be Oct. 5.82 +/- 0.04 (FHWM = 3.6 hr).  The
calculated parabolic orbital elements of the meteroids for epoch
2005 Oct. 5 are:  q = 0.993 +/- 0.001 AU, Peri. = 170.5 +/- 1.5 deg,
Node = 192.59 +/- 0.04 deg, i = 79.3 +/- 0.5 deg (equinox 2000.0).
October 5 was a suspected date of outburst events, due to earlier
observations in 1902 by Bailey (1902, Nature 66, 577), in 1942 by
Sander (1943, Die Sterne 23, 46) and Teichgraeber (1943, Die Sterne
23, 172), in 1976 by Root (Root 1976, Meteor News 36, 20) and
MacKenzie (1980, Solar System Debris, Dover, p. 42), and in the
early 1990s (flurry of fireballs detected by orbiting satellites;
unpublished).


NOTE: These 'Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams' are sometimes
      superseded by text appearing later in the printed IAU Circulars.

                         (C) Copyright 2005 CBAT
2005 November 29                 (CBET 309)               Daniel W. E. Green