The Lyrids are expected to peak on 2010 April 22 around 17h UT (ZHR ~20). Past observations have shown the maximum time to be variable from year to year; in 2010 the peak could occur between 9h and 21h UT on April 22, but observations in the days before and after the peak are also worthwile. The radiant of this shower, between Lyra and Hercules, rises during the night. Watches can be usefully carried out from about 22h30m local time onwards from mid-northern sites, but only from well after midnight from the mid-southern hemisphere. On April 22, the waxing gibbous Moon will set between 1h and 2h UT for most northern sites. More information about this shower can be found in the 2010 Shower Calendar.

Visual observations can be reported through the Report Form and are highly appreciated. The observations are automatically included in an automated ZHR graph.

We are now accepting registrations for the International Meteor Conference 2010 from September 16th (Thursday evening) to 19th (Sunday lunchtime), in Armagh. Everything related to the conference is available on the website, which has been updated recently with plenty of new information.

See you in Armagh in September!

The February issue of the Journal of the International Meteor Organization is now in print. It will be posted shortly; all IMO Members and WGN subscribers should receive it soon by mail. Subscribers can also immediately access the Journal in PDF format.

The Meteoroids conference is an international meeting that takes place every 3 years. It is widely attended by professional meteor astronomers, but students and amateur astronomers are also invited to participate. The next edition of the conference takes place from May 24 to 28 in Breckenridge, Colora (USA). Amateur astronomers who are members of the IMO enjoy a discount of 40% on the early registration fee! The abstract deadline is 15 January, early registration deadline is 15 February.

Later in the year, September 16 to 19 September, the IMO will hold its annual conference in Armagh, Northern Ireland (UK).

The new issue of the Journal of the International Meteor Organization is now in print. It will be posted shortly; all IMO Members and WGN subscribers should receive it soon by mail. Subscribers can also immediately access the Journal in PDF format.

If you are not a member of the International Meteor Organization yet, you can become one by filling out the electronic registration form.

The Geminids is one of the finest, and probably the most reliable, annual meteor shower. Activity exceeds 100 meteors per hour around December 14, with meteors radiating from a point near Castor in constellation Gemini. Geminids are slow, bright and occasionally colorful. Many observers consider the shower to be more spectacular than the famous Perseids in August, but the Geminids are less widely known because of the cold and often clouded December nights in the northern hemisphere.

This year the peak is expected in the morning of December 14 (5h00 UT), coinciding with a perfect new Moon. Many tens of meteors per hour will be visible in the nights surrounding December 14, with highest rates occuring in the hours after local midnight when the radiant reaches its highest altitude in the sky. More information on the observing conditions can be found in the shower calendar.

An electronic report form is available to submit your visual observations, which will automatically be included in a ZHR activity graph. Please report short counting intervals throughout December 13-15, preferably 10 to 20 minutes, even when the activity appears low!