The December 2011 issue of the IMO Journal is now in print. It will be posted shortly and subscribers can also immediately access the journal in PDF format. The contents this month:

• Editorial (J. Kac)
• From the Treasurer - IMO Membership/WGN Subscription Renewal for 2012 (M. Gyssens)
• Romania and IMC 2011 - a timeless beauty... (T. Heenatigala)
• Solar Longitudes for 2012 (R. Arlt)
• Comae Berenicids and related activities (M. Koseki)
• Geminids: 30 years of observations (1980–2009) (K. Miskotte, C. Johannink, M. Vandeputte, P. Bus)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - August 2011 (S. Molau, J. Kac, E. Berko, S. Crivello, E. Stomeo, A. Igaz, G. Barentsen)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - September 2011 (S. Molau, J. Kac, E. Berko, S. Crivello, E. Stomeo, A. Igaz, G. Barentsen)

Front cover photo: this bright Northern Taurid fireball appeared on 2011 November 16 at 23h13m03s UT while Slovenian meteor observers were covering the Leonids from Grmada, Slovenia. The author used Nikon D80 equipped with 18-mm f/3.5 lens for a 60s exposure at ISO 1000. Photo courtesy: Rok Pucer.

Instructions for writing an article for WGN may be found in "Authors, Writing for WGN" [PDF].

The annual Quadrantids meteor shower is expected to show its traditional short but intense peak in the morning of January 4th, in the hours surrounding 7h Universal Time. Alastair McBeath writes in the 2012 Shower Calendar: Waxing gibbous moonset for the predicted Quadrantid maximum leaves several dark-sky hours for visual observing before morning twilight begins from northern hemisphere sites this year. From many such places, the shower's radiant is circumpolar, in northern Boötes, first attaining a useful elevation after local midnight, improving steadily later, making this a reasonably favourable return.

The activity graph below is updated every 15 minutes, based on visual observations submitted by citizen scientists through the IMO report form - click for details.

The October 2011 issue of the IMO Journal is now in print. It will be posted shortly and subscribers can also immediately access the journal in PDF format. The contents this month:

• Editorial (J. Kac)
• From the Treasurer - IMO Membership/WGN Subscription Renewal for 2012 (M. Gyssens)
• First announcement of the International Meteor Conference 2012 (P. Roggemans, G. Vaduvescu, O. Vaduvescu)
• Details of the Proceedings of the International Meteor Conference, Bareges, France, 2007 (J. Rendtel)
• Estimating meteor rates using Bayesian inference (G. Barentsen, R. Arlt, H.-E. Frohlich)
• Confirmation of the April Rho Cygnids (ARC, IAU#348) (M. Phillips, P. Jenniskens, B. Grigsby)
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - June 2011 (S. Molau, J. Kac, E. Berko, S. Crivello, E. Stomeo, A. Igaz, G. Barentsen)
• Erratum: Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - April 2011
• Results of the IMO Video Meteor Network - July 2011 (S. Molau, J. Kac, E. Berko, S. Crivello, E. Stomeo, A. Igaz, G. Barentsen)
• Meteor Beliefs Project: "Year of Meteors" (A. McBeath, G.J. Drobnock, A. Dorian Gheorghe)

Front cover photo: bright sporadic fireball, captured on 2011 July 1 at 22h 24m UT by EN95 all-sky station in Benningbroek, The Netherlands. Canon 400D camera equipped with 4.5-mm f/2.8 lens set to f/5.0 was used for this 88s exposure at ISO 400. Photo courtesy: Jos Nijland.

Instructions for writing an article for WGN may be found in "Authors, Writing for WGN" [PDF].

Alastair McBeath writes in the 2011 Shower Calendar: The most recent perihelion passage of the Leonids' parent comet, 55P/Tempel-Tuttle, in 1998 may be more than a decade ago now, but the shower's activity has continued to be fascinatingly variable from year to year recently. This year might produce enhanced rates (though these may be observable using only particularly sensitive radio and radar systems), and theoretical work has suggested there may be several peaks. - The activity graph below is updated every 15 minutes - click for details.

Jérémie Vaubaillon has indicated part of the 1800 AD dust trail may be encountered around 22h36m UT on November 16, and could produce ZHRs of ∼ 200. Unfortunately, the dust particles involved are expected to be exceptionally small, of order 10–100 microns, and this could mean no optically-detectable meteors at all. This activity may be observable instead as an increase in underdense radio meteor echoes, by those systems capable of recording the equivalent of such 'invisibly-faint' meteors, and by sensitive radar meteor systems. Mikhail Maslov has proposed that there may be two peaks, one on November 17, around 21h UT, when ZHRs may be ∼ 5–10 above the underlying 'normal' activity, the second on November 18 near 23h UT, with ZHRs of ∼ 10 above normal. Taking the typical ZHR to be ∼ 10–15 could suggest ZHRs at either might be ∼ 20 ± 5. The second peak he noted may produce somewhat fainter than average meteors, however. Another potential maximum time is that given above for the nodal crossing, when ZHRs are liable to be simply 'normal'.

The annual Orionids meteor shower should reach a maximum on October 21.

The activity graph below is updated every 15 minutes - click for details.