Canes Venaticids

The discovery of this meteor shower is primarily due to Zdenek Sekanina. During the two sessions of the Radio Meteor Project, the presence of this stream was apparent each time. The surveys indicated this stream was active during January 13-30. The 1961-1965 survey indicated a nodal passage on January 24.2 (Solar Longitude=303.7 deg), from RA=111.8 deg, DECL=+9.7 deg. The 1968-1969 survey revealed a nodal passage on January 15.5, however, the radio equipment did not operate during January 18-26, so that the date is probably somewhat biased.
By examining the raw meteor orbits used by Sekanina, the Author noted that the orbit in S1973 apparently included several meteors with inclinations above 10 deg (subsequently lowering the average declination). Only one such meteor orbit was present in the S1976 orbit sample. By combining all of the meteors from both radar sessions, the author determined a new average orbit and located several new members that had been previously missed. The average radiant now becomes RA=113.4 deg, DECL=+12.6 deg, while the daily motion is +0.97 deg in RA and -0.35 deg in DECL.