Astron. Astrophys. 343, L94-L96 (1999)

Letter to the Editor

The Giacobinid meteor stream observed by radar in 1998

M. imek and P. Pecina

Astronomical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, CZ-251 65 Ondejov, Czech Republic (simek; ppecina@asu.cas.cz)

Received 11 December 1998 / Accepted 14 February 1999

Abstract

The return of the 1998 Giacobinid meteor shower associated with the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner was observed by meteor radar at Ondejov, Czech Republic. The duration of the intense part of the shower was approximately 3 hours. Though the limiting magnitude of the radar is +8 , only overdense echoes down to +4.2 were analyzed. A maximum number of 82 such shower meteors was recorded in the ten minute interval 13h 00m-13h 10m UT corresponding to solar longitude (J2000.0). The mass-distribution index indicates a lack of faint meteors in the most dense part of the stream.

Key words: comets: individual: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner meteors, meteoroids

Send offprint requests to: P. Pecina

© European Southern Observatory (ESO) 1999

Online publication: March 1, 1999

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