Announcements

The database of the IMO Video Meteor Network has been updated recently and now contains all observations until December 31, 2007. It is made of 328112 meteor records, collected in 2816 nights and 72582 hours of effective observing time. The PosDat data can be downloaded from the IMO website and from the IMO Video Network Homepage.

In March 1999, a video camera network was established by the German Arbeitskreis Meteore (AKM). By the end of 1999, it consisted of four cameras, and it has been growing ever since. In the next few years, not only observers from Germany joined the initiative, but also from other countries. Because of its international character, the network has been renamed to IMO Video Meteor Network in 2004.

By December 2007, the network had grown to 17 sites in Germany, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, UK, Spain and the USA that provide regular video observations each month. Another 7 stations in Italy, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic supply additional data in selected nights. All cameras work fully automated with the MetRec software. The single station data are collected at a central site, quality checked, and finally entered into the IMO Video Meteor Database.

This database contains for each meteor

• the appearance date and time (*)
• equatorial coordinates of the start and end point of the mean meteor trail (*)
• the apparent meteor velocity and an brightness estimate (*)
• the shower membership according to IMO's working list (*)
• position and brightness data from each individual video frame
• a sum image and a short animation of the meteor

All data marked with an asterisk (*) are available online in IMO's PosDat format.

We are very pleased to inform you that the next IMC will take place near Banská Bystrica in Slovakia from 18th to 21st September 2008. The conference location, the Šachti?ka Hotel, is situated just 7 km from the town of Banská Bystrica.

The IMC 2008 will be the third International Meteor Conference in Slovakia. The conference center is located in a magnificent hotel in a green mountain area. The place is close to the geographical center of Europe, which we plan to visit.

The are many traveling possibilities to Banská Bystrica. The closest airport is in Bratislava. The Slovak capital can also easily be reached by train or bus. Road connections are good, too.

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is situated in the Public Observatory and Planetarium in Žiar nad Hronom. The LOC can be contacted via email on imc2008@imo.net.

We will provide you with more detailed information in the December issue of WGN and hope to see you in Slovakia next September.

From now on you can order all IMO publications through the webshop. With the webshop, it's a lot easier now to order IMO publications. A green and orange color code indicates whether there is still ample stock of a publication, or whether you have to hurry to get one of the last copies. After confirming your order, you will be directed to a page asking for your shipping information and choose your method of payment. You will get an email confirming your order and another one once the publication(s) are mailed to you.

We'd like to take the opportunity to point out that the Proceedings of the Radio Meteor School 2005 have been reprinted and are available again.

If you experience any difficulty using the new functionality, let us know!

The Meteor Shower Calendar 2008 is now available on the web. The meteor year ahead starts well for the stronger showers, with moonless maxima for the Quadrantids, α-Centaurids, η-Aquarids and δ-Aquarids, but things go somewhat awry in August with the Perseids peaking near full Moon, while the Orionids in October, the Leonids in November and the Geminids in December are even worse-placed. However, the Draconid epoch should still be partly observable, while the late October to early November spell, which may bring another 'swarm' enhancement from the Taurids, is Moon- free, as too is the Ursid peak towards year's end. There are minor showers to be monitored as well, and ideally, meteor observing should be carried out throughout the year to check on all the established sources, and for any new ones. We appreciate this is impractical for most people, so the Shower Calendar has been helping to highlight times when a particular effort might most usefully be employed since 1991.

From June 7th till 10th 2007 the International Meteor Organization held its annual International Meteor Conference (IMC) in Barège, France. 84 participants from all over the world joined us for this four-day event. Both professional and amateur astronomers presented their latest results in meteor science. The IMC is also a time where meteor enthusiasts tighten and renew their friendship.

Before conference, a dozen participants attended the Radio Meteor School where we had lectures on the physical and mathematical theory of radio meteor observations. There was also a half-day orbit determination workshop organized by Jonathan McAuliffe (ESA/ESTEC) right before the start of the IMC).

If you've got your pictures on-line somewhere, please send us the location and we'll add a link to your gallery.

The IMC 2007 was organized by IMCCE, Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides, Paris Observatory, Observatoire Midi-Pyrennees and AUDE (Association des Utilisateurs de Détetecteurs Electronique). Your comments are very welcome! Lecturers are requested to submit their contribution to the Proceedings before the 15th of may.

See you next year!

From June 7th through 10th 2007 the International Meteor Organization will hold its annual International Meteor Conference (IMC) in Barège, France. Both professional and amateur astronomers will lecture about the latest results of their work in meteor science. The IMC is also a time where meteor enthousiasts tighten and renew their friendship.

Please send us your questions or comments. Please try to register quickly especially if you want to travel with the rest of the group from Barège to Barcelona on June 10th.

Before the actual conference, the participants will have a chance to attend the Radio Meteor School where we will have lectures on the physical and mathematical theory of radio meteor observations.

Every 4 years a conference is organized on meteoroids and all the topics related to inter panetary dust, called Meteoroids. This year it will be held in Barcelona on 11-15 June, right after IMC. There will be a bus ride organized on Sunday 10th from Baréges to Barcelona.

The IMC 2007 is organized by IMCCE, Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides, Paris Observatory, Observatoire Midi-Pyrennees and AUDE Association des Utilisateurs de Détetecteurs Electronique.

Lecturers are requested to submit their contribution to the Proceedings before the 15th of October.

See you in june!