Meteor Activity Outlook for August 23-29, 2014

During this period the moon reaches its new phase on Monday August 25th. At this time the moon is located near the sun and is invisible at night. Late in this period the thin waxing crescent moon will enter the evening sky but will not interfere with meteor observing as it will set soon after the end of evening twilight. The estimated total hourly meteor rates for evening observers this week is near 5 as seen from the northern hemisphere and 3 as seen from southern tropical latitudes. For morning observers the estimated total hourly rates should be near 20 for observers located in mid-northern latitudes and 12 for south tropical observers. The actual rates will also depend on factors such as personal light and motion perception, local weather conditions, alertness and experience in watching meteor activity. Note that the hourly rates listed below are estimates as viewed from dark sky sites away from urban light sources. Observers viewing from urban areas will see less activity as only the brightest meteors will be visible from such locations.

The radiant (the area of the sky where meteors appear to shoot from) positions and rates listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning August 23/24. These positions do not change greatly day to day so the listed coordinates may be used during this entire period. Most star atlases (available at science stores and planetariums) will provide maps with grid lines of the celestial coordinates so that you may find out exactly where these positions are located in the sky. A planisphere or computer planetarium program is also useful in showing the sky at any time of night on any date of the year. Activity from each radiant is best seen when it is positioned highest in the sky, either due north or south along the meridian, depending on your latitude. It must be remembered that meteor activity is rarely seen at the radiant position. Rather they shoot outwards from the radiant so it is best to center your field of view so that the radiant lies at the edge and not the center. Viewing there will allow you to easily trace the path of each meteor back to the radiant (if it is a shower member) or in another direction if it is a sporadic. Meteor activity is not seen from radiants that are located below the horizon. The positions below are listed in a west to east manner in order of right ascension (celestial longitude). The positions listed first are located further west therefore are accessible earlier in the night while those listed further down the list rise later in the night.

These sources of meteoric activity are expected to be active this week:

The Kappa Cygnids (KCG) are still active during this period from a wide radiant located near 19:12 (288) +60. This location lies actually lies in southern Draco, 7 degrees north of the 4th magnitude star known as Kappa Cygni. Consider this position the center of a large radiant rather than a sharp point. Maximum activity was predicted to occur on August 18th, so current rates would most likely be less than one per hour no matter your location. With an entry velocity of 23 km/sec. most of these meteors will appear to travel slower than average. The radiant is best placed near 2300 LDT (11pm LDT) when it lies nearly overhead for much of the Northern Hemisphere. Due to its high northern declination this activity is not well seen from the southern hemisphere. Despite the low rates seen from this source, this shower is known to be a producer of fireball class meteors.

The center of the large Anthelion (ANT) radiant is currently located at 22:52 (343) -05. This position lies in northeastern Aquarius, just southwest of the “Circlet” of Pisces. These meteors may be seen all night long but the radiant is best placed near 0100 LDT when it lies on the meridian and is positioned highest in the sky. Due to the large radiant area, meteors from this source may also appear to radiant from southern Pegasus, eastern Capricornus, western Cetus, and western Pisces as well as Aquarius. Rates at this time should be near 2 per hour no matter you location. With an entry velocity of 30 km/sec., the average Anthelion meteor would be of slow velocity.

The Theta Piscids (TPI) are a newly discovered radiant originally reported by SonotaCo in 2009 as the August Beta Piscids (BPI). The BPI’s have since been removed from the IAU list as researchers there feel it was a synonymous with the North Delta Aquariids, a shower no longer recognized by the IMO. Studies of the IMO video database has shown that this radiant is active between August 8 and September 1. Researchers have not been able to determine a date of maximum activity as the activity profile remains flat throughout the entire activity period. The midpoint of this source occured on August 20 when the radiant lies at 23:28 (352) +04. This position is located directly in the “Circlet” of Pisces in the western end of the constellation. This position lies close to the Anthelion and the Delta Aquariid radiants so care must be taken to distinguish between these radiants. The IMO database contains a hefty 4500 members of this shower so expected rates should be 1-2 shower members per hour when the radiant lies highest in the sky, which occurs near 0300 LDT. This source is seen equally well from both hemispheres. With an entry velocity of 39 km/sec., most activity from this radiant would be of average velocities. Visual observations of this source should be undertaken to see if it stands out from the Anthelion source or should be included as part of the Anthelions. Curiously, if one extends the radiant drift of the Southern Taurids back into August, the position of right ascension (celestial longitude) is a close match. The declination (celestial latitude) though lies too far south to be a good match.

The Delta Aquariids (SDA) are still active from a radiant located at 00:02 (000) -08. This position is located in western Cetus, 4 degrees northwest of the 4th magnitude star known as Deneb Kaitos Shemali (Iota Ceti). Hourly rates have fallen to less than 1 per hour as seen from the northern hemisphere and 1 per hour as seen from south of the equator. The radiant is best placed near 0300 LDT, when it lies highest in the sky. With an entry velocity of 39 km/sec., most activity from this radiant would be of average velocities. Some observers refer to this portion of the SDA’s as the August Iota Cetids (AIC).

The August Gamma Cepheids (AGC) are a new shower discovered by Željko Andreić at al. using data from the Croatian Meteor Network and SonotaCo. These meteors are active from August 22 through September 1, with maximum activity occurring on August 29th. On that date the radiant is located at 00:04 (001) +77, which places it in extreme northern Cassiopeia, 5 degrees east of the 3rd magnitude star known as Errai (Gamma Cephei). Rates at maximum should be near 1 per hour as see from the northern hemisphere. Due to the high declination of this radiant, this shower is practically invisible from the southern hemisphere. The radiant is also circumpolar (never sets) for most of the northern hemisphere and is best placed above Polaris near 0300 LDT, when it lies highest in the sky. With an entry velocity of 41 km/sec., most activity from this radiant would be of average velocities.

IMO Shower #136 is part of the Perseus-Auriga complex of radiants that are active from late August through early October. This is much like the Centaurus complex of late January through early March in that it involves several weak, diffuse radiants that don’t amount to much by themselves, but added together can add 5-10 meteors per hour to the overall activity during the morning hours when they lie high in the sky. This particular radiant was discovered among the data of the IMO network and is best seen from August 18-25. The mean position of this radiant lies near 02:08 (032) +41. This position is located in eastern Andromeda just southeast of the famous double star known as Almach (Gamma Andromedae). Activity is weak even at maximum (August 25), but keen observers may be able to spot 1 shower member per hour between midnight and dawn as seen from the northern hemisphere. This source is not well seen from the southern hemisphere as it does not rise very high in the sky. With an entry velocity of 46 km/sec., most activity from this radiant would be of average velocities.

The Perseids (PER) are still the strongest shower in the sky, but by mid-week its reign will be over. The current position of the radiant is 04:16 (064) +60 which places it in central Camelopardalis, 12 degrees northeast of the 2nd magnitude star known as Mirfak (Alpha Persei). The radiant is best placed during the last hour before the start of morning twilight when it lies highest in a dark sky. Current rates would be near 2 per hour as seen from the northern hemisphere and less than 1 as seen from south of the equator. Activity from this source is not visible south of 40 degrees south latitude. With an entry velocity of 61 km/sec., most activity from this radiant would be swift with a large percentage of persistent trains produced by the brightest meteors.

As seen from the mid-northern hemisphere (45N) one would expect to see approximately 14 sporadic meteors per hour during the last hour before dawn as seen from rural observing sites. Evening rates would be near 4 per hour. As seen from the tropical southern latitudes (25S), morning rates would be near 8 per hour as seen from rural observing sites and 2 per hour during the evening hours. Locations between these two extremes would see activity between the listed figures. Morning rates are reduced due to interfering moonlight.

The table below presents a list of radiants that are expected to be active this week. Rates and positions are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning except where noted in the shower descriptions.