Home » The International Meteor Organization » International Meteor Conference » The history of the IMC-tradition

Oostmalle - Belgium, 15-18 September 2005

  • 24th meeting
  • Local organizers: Cis Verbeeck and Jan Verbert (Public Observatory Urania).
  • 91 participants from 22 countries: Argentina (1), Belgium (22), Bulgaria (3), Canada (1), China (2), Croatia (2), France (2), Germany (8), Ireland (1), Italy (1), Japan (2), Macedonia (1), the Netherlands (16), Poland (7), Romania (5), Russia (2), Serbia (1), Slovakia (1), Slovenia (6), Spain (2), U.K.(4) and Venezuela (1).
  • 55 presentations (37 lectures, 18 posters) of which 29 were included in the Proceedings.
  • IMC 2005 Proceedings (ISBN 978-2-87355-016-5): 195 pages (eds. Luc Bastiaens, Jan Verbert, Jean-Marc Wislez, Cis Verbeeck).
  • Contents: Radio Meteor School - forward scatter - Perseids 2005 - kappa-Cygnid radiant - video observations - all-sky Networks - meteor poetry - the song of the IMC - martian meteors - light pollution - Leonids mass distribution - meteor-shower evolution - meteor trajectory - ancient Chinese records - unified Meteor Database.
  • Participation fee 120 Euro.
A new feature in 2005 was the Radio Meteor School that preceeded the IMC at the same location (and for which a special additional Proceedings volume was published). Never before at an IMC were so many nations represented. The excursion brought the participants to the old city of Lier with its astronomical clock museum (Zimmer Tower). The Immy symbol, the IMC song, the conference centre in the middle of a forest, the enthusiasm of the Astro-show (with participants from nine countries), the hospitality of Tom Roelandts and his family for an informal Saturday evening with pancakes and warm wine in their garden (accompanied by guitarist-astronomers from four countries), the artistic festivity dedicated to Marc Gyssens (one of the IMO co-founders and councillors, after whom an asteroid has been named), and the efforts of the perfect organization by the Urania team, made this IMC an unforgettable experience.

Acknowledgement: We thank Rainer Arlt, Antonio Martinez, Jos Nijland, Casper ter Kuile and Jean-Marc Wislez for the photographs of this 2005 IMC and Cis Verbeeck and Jan Verbert for their comments as IMC-organizers.
High resolution versions can be obtained on request for most of the images in the gallery.