SPA Meteor Section Homepage

Introduction

Most people at some time or other have probably seen a "shooting star" dash across part of the sky. This of course is not really a star at all, but is a minute speck of cosmic material called a meteoroid, which "burns up" during its passage through the Earth's atmosphere producing the streak of light which we call a meteor. The SPA Meteor Section webpages describe what meteors are and how to observe them, and gives some information about the Section, its personnel, activities and history.

The Section's purpose is to help make good astronomers, in particular meteor observers, of its members. By following the instructions on these pages from the links below when making your meteor observations, you will be doing original work, which is the best way to learn. Never be afraid to ask questions if you are not certain what to do, or want more information on any meteor-related topics, and don't worry about your inexperience or making mistakes when you start out. Every experienced observer made - and still occasionally makes - mistakes; that is how they gained their experience. Regular observing at all times of year, NOT just near the maxima of major meteor showers, is how to become a better meteor watcher, and remember, practice makes perfect!

The Section's Director is Alastair McBeath, to whom all observations and questions about meteors and meteor astronomy should be sent, and there are two Assistant Directors, Shelagh Godwin and David Entwistle. Shelagh's main duties are enrolling all new Section members and providing printout copies of the Section's publications on request, while David is particularly involved in assisting radio meteor observers. Brief profiles for each of us can be found here.

The SPA is an organization dedicated to the better public understanding of astronomy, and relies on subscriptions paid by its members to maintain its information sources, including this website. If you are not an SPA member already, but have found these webpages useful and would like to join to help us continue this work, please see here.

During 2009, the Meteor Section pages are being upgraded and amended. As part of this process, you may find that not every link is "live" yet, and you will also discover fresh links appear from time to time. We are aware of all inactive links at present, and their appearance now means we hope to have them activated as soon as possible. Please do not write in to tell us about these! However, if you find a working link which does not take you to where it should, please let the SPA webmaster know immediately, at webmaster@popastro.com.

Meteor Activity Updates

Monthly notes on what we hope to see meteorically from Britain, with radiant charts for many showers and observing advice, are currently available for:

• November 2009
• December 2009

A list of meteor showers visible from the UK for the current year, through to January next year is available here.

Fireballs are especially bright meteors, technically any meteors of magnitude -3 or brighter. Regularly updated notes on fireball reports made recently from sites in the British Isles and nearby are here:

• Recent Fireball Sightings
• Fireball Sightings from January to June 2009

Meteor Observations

The Section's instruction booklet "Observing Meteors", which includes full details on visual observing, plus notes on telescopic and imaging meteor observing, is available in two formats, online with links to other pages on this site, and suitable for printing-out:

• Observing Meteors ( online format)
• Observing Meteors ( PDF printable format, 260K)

Similarly, the Section's visual observing report form is available in text-only or printable formats. Once completed, the printable version can be used to submit your observations by ordinary mail, while the online version can be e-mailed directly to the Section:

• Visual Meteor Report Form ( email )
• Visual Meteor Report Form ( PDF printable format, 391K)

Additional information on meteor observing is available as follows:

• Making and Reporting Fireball Observations
• Imaging Meteors - Advanced Notes
• Radio Meteor Observing
• Hints & Tips for Meteor Observers
• Coping With Very High Meteor Activity

Meteor Section Reports

Details of recent meteor activity as observed by Section members and others are regularly reported, with other meteor-related news, in the SPA's Electronic News Bulletins and in the printed News Circulars, and sometimes also in the SPA's online Forums. Occasionally, separate special reports are issued on this website as well. The links below provide direct access to such information from the current year, and from past years as well, back to 1998.

• Meteor Reports from 2009
• Meteor Reports from 1998-2008

Other Meteor Information

As well as reports on specific events from the relatively recent past, more general meteoric and meteoritic topics feature from time to time in the SPA's publications and Forums, along with events from earlier periods. A selection of links to some of the more detailed discussions can be found from the following page.

• Meteoric & Meteor-Related Items from the ENBs & SPA Forum

Other Meteor-Related Webpages

There is a lot of information on the Internet on all manner of topics, including meteor astronomy, but it is often difficult to be sure how reliable or up-to-date that information may be. The page here provides a selection of some of the better English-language meteor-related sites which you may find additionally useful.

Alastair McBeath
Email: meteor@popastro.com
Address in Popular Astronomy