Minor Meteor Showers of October Observed over Waltair during 1962?71

Abstract

Systematic visual observations of meteors have been made over Waltair Qat. 17� 5� N.) in the month of October during 1962-71. From the data for 1835 meteors collected, after identification of 436 Orionid and 153 Taurid major shower meteors, 56 groups covering 439 meteors in the remainder have been observed to display common radiant points on the daily plotted meteor maps. These 56 groups are tentatively classed as minor meteor showers, after applying some tests of significance. The list is reduced to 20 groups by identifying common radiant coordinates within a divergence of � 10�. Of these 20 groups, 10 occur in at least two different years and on nearby dates and therefore are considered to be well-established minor meteor showers. It is found that a majority of the minor shower radiants lie close to the ecliptic.