Abstract
ABSTRACT The Draconid meteor shower shows strong bursts of activity at irregular intervals, with nearly no activity in intervening years. Five outbursts of the Draconid meteor shower were observed with specular meteor radars in Canada and Europe between 1999 and 2018. The outbursts generally lasted between 6 and 8 h, and most were not fully visible at a single geographical site, emphasizing the need for observations at multiple longitudes for short-duration shower outbursts. There is at least a factor of two difference in the peak flux as measured on different radars; the initial trail radius effect is undercorrected for Draconid meteors, which are known to be fragile.
Highlights
The Draconid meteor shower (009 DRA) is a low-activity shower which has irregular, and sometimes spectacular outbursts
We have converted the flux into Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR), commonly used in visual observations, for comparison with other sources, on the right axis
This is the number of meteors an ideal observer would see in 1 h if the radiant were at the zenith and the observer’s limiting magnitude were +6.5
Summary
The Draconid meteor shower (009 DRA) (formerly known as the Giacobinids, after their parent comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner) is a low-activity shower which has irregular, and sometimes spectacular outbursts. The first radar observations of the Draconids took place in the UK, during the 1946 outburst, with a military radar at a frequency of 60 MHz (Hey, Parsons & Stewart 1947) This radar had a power of 150 kW, and had a narrow, vertical beam which increased the gain. The shower was observed with the Jodrell Bank radar (Lovell, Banwell & Clegg 1947), frequency 72 MHz and transmitter power 150 kW, likewise with a narrow beam It observed a peak of 200 echoes per minute at the same solar longitude
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