The first detection of this radiant should be
attributed to Cuno Hoffmeister (Germany), who observed a radiant at RA=305 deg,
DEC=+57 deg on October 9, 1931 (solar longitude=195.6 deg). Although additional
visual observations seem quite rare, this radiant has been detected by both
radar and photography.
The Author has found
six photographic meteors in papers published by Fred L. Whipple in 1954 and by
Richard McCrosky and Annette Posen in 1961, which indicate a duration extending
from September 26 to October 10. The nodal passage seems to occur on October 6,
at which time the average radiant is at RA=311.3 deg, DEC=+54.7 deg. The average
orbit is
AOP | AN | i | q | e | a |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
207.1 | 192.7 | 29.9 | 0.953 | 0.734 | 3.576 |
Two meteor streams were detected during the 1961-1965 session of Zdenek Sekanina's Radio Meteor Project. The "Delta Cygnids" were detected during October 4-10. The date of the nodal passage was given as October 8.9 (solar longitude=195.2 deg), at which time the radiant was at RA=299.7 deg, DEC=+50.7 deg. The "Alpha Cygnids" were based on 12 meteors detected during September 22-October 11. The date of the nodal passage was given as October 4.4 (solar longitude=190.8 deg), at which the radiant was at RA=316.3 deg, DEC=+52.3 deg. Their orbits are, respectively,
AOP | AN | i | q | e | a |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
198.6 | 195.2 | 25.0 | 0.976 | 0.647 | 2.764 |
216.0 | 190.8 | 25.5 | 0.930 | 0.538 | 2.014 |
Admittedly, the orbits of the two radio-echo
streams are somewhat different, but it is evident that at least one radiant is
producing activity from this region. The shower's duration seems to extend from
September 22 to October 11, and maximum occurs between October 4 and 9. The
average position of the radiant at maximum is RA=311 deg (20 hours 44 minutes),
DEC=+52 deg.
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