Draconids 1997: Prospects

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October 8, 15h UT (Peter Jenniskens)

An interesting event, coming up October 8, is the Draconid meteor shower. Comet Giacobini-Zinner, the parent, is expected to return to perihelion in 1998. In the past, some meteor outbursts have been reported when Earth was before the comet and outside of the comet orbit. It is not clear if any Draconid activity will occur this year, but the return asks for close monitoring. The Earth will pass the orbit of the comet at 15h UT on October 8.
Of particular interest are:

• flux and magnitude distributions in the days around that time
• flux and magnitude distributions in the hours around that time
• orbits: precise orbital elements of Draconid meteoroids
• fragmentation: video imaging of the trails at high spatial resolution

The stream is a target of ongoing studies of meteor outburts at NASA/Ames Research Center.
Contact: Peter Jenniskens (peter@max.arc.nasa.gov)

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This page was last modified on October 7, 1997 by Casper ter Kuile and Peter Jenniskens