Sunday, December 30, 2018

considering 2019 meteors

Here's the meteor outlook for 2019. Inspired by the Sky & Telescope magazine article.

I added the Moon brightness into the table so one can make a quick assessment as to the visibility.

This is tuned for observers in or near Ontario, Canada, factoring in the Sun's position at the shower peak. The dates and times are local too, for Ontario.

shower peak ZHR Moon Sun
Quadrantids 3 Jan - 9:00 PM 100 4 -44
Lyrids 22 Apr - 8:00 PM 20 85 1
η (eta) Aquarids 6 May - 10:00 AM 60 3 41
δ (delta) Aquarids 29 Jul - 12:00 PM 30 9 59
Perseids 13 Aug - 3:00 AM 90 95 -27
Orionids 21 Oct - 8:00 PM 20 45 -18
South Taurids 5 Nov - 7:00 PM 20 64 -22
North Taurids 12 Nov - 6:00 PM 15 100 -12
Leonids 18 Nov - 1:00 AM 20 67 -63
Geminids 14 Dec - 2:00 PM 120 92 19
Ursids 22 Dec - 10:00 PM 15 11 -55

where:

"peak" is the shower peak date and time, Eastern time zone;
"ZHR" is the idealised zenithal hourly rate; and,
"Moon" is the Moon's illumination in percentage (%); and,
"Sun" is the Sun's elevation at the moment of the shower peak in degrees (°).

I paint a bleaker picture here than S&T. They show the η Aquarids and δ Aquarids as candidates, given the low Moon brightness, but if you're picky about the peak time, it won't work for viewers in south-western Ontario.

See my annual meteor showers table on the lumpy companion for a longer list of showers, generally ones over 10 per hour.

Also see my graphical presentation of shower curves, emphasising the meteor "seasons" and that the peak date and time is kind of a big deal...

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Edits! I relied on the Universal Time dates and times in the 2019 RASC Observer's Handbook but just learned that there were some errors. I have adjusted the dates and times from the original post, affecting slightly the Quants, eta Aqr's, delta Aqr's, and Perseids...

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