Croatian astronomers discover new meteor swarm

(Illustration)

ZAGREB, 30 October 2021 – Croatian astronomers have discovered a new meteor swarm – the October son-in-law of Perseids, the Croatian Astronomical Union reported on Friday. 

The Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams (CBAT) of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reported on October 28 that Dr. Denis Vida from the University of Western Ontario and Damir Šegon from the Croatian Meteor Network (HMM) “reported a radiant meteor burst in Perseus, that is, 14 meteors recorded by Global Meteor Network (GMN) cameras on the night of October 24 this year,” the statement said.

Half of the meteors were observed in the first 30 minutes of activity, and the activity lasted a total of 3 hours. 

The search for the parent body of these meteors according to orbital elements has not yielded results so far. The new meteor swarm is officially listed in the International Astronomical Union (IAU) Meteor Swarm Working List under number 1131 and is named the October son-in-law of Perseids (OZP).

A new meteor swarm filmed from Croatia 

The Global Meteor Network is a project that grew out of the Croatian Meteor Network and today has more than 300 cameras globally in more than 30 countries.

Five of the fourteen meteors were recorded by the cameras of the Croatian Meteorological Network in Hum (Istria), Zadar, Virovitica, Đakovo, Ogulin, Požega and on Mosor (Split), Čiovo, Korčula and Hvar on the Humac hill above Jelsa.

In recent years, the Croatian Meteorological Network project has been partly financed and maintained through the Croatian Astronomical Association, Public Needs in Technical Culture of the Republic of Croatia (Croatian Association of Technical Culture and the Ministry of Science and Education), said Dorian Božičević.

More details about the meteor swarm here