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PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, NOV 6: Earth would pass close to the orbit (tail components) of the newly discovered comet `Linear C/1999J3' on November 11 and the result could be a meteor shower, the Linearids, according to the International Meteor Organisation (IMO).
On November 12 at 1 am Earth would arrive at a point just 0.0115 angstrom units from the orbit of the comet, 40 days after the comet is in the area, IMO said.
``If there is a residual swarm of dusty debris left over from the comet's passage, we could be in for an unexpected meteor outburst - the first known apparition of the Linearids'', an IMO statement said here today. The comet was discovered on May 12 this year by the US-based Lincoln Near-Earth asteroid research team and it was brightened to the ninth magnitude when made its closest approach to the sun in September.
IMO issued a call for meteor observations during a 48-hour period centred on November 11. Linearid meteors - if they materialise - would appear to emanate from the bowl of the Big Dipper (UrsaMajor or Saptarishi) and would be visible near the Pole Star, the organisation said. According to Indian astronomers, it would be visible near the third from the pointer stars of Ursa Major or Saptarishis.
``Therefore, it is easier to trace and photograph the shower just by keeping camera pointing towards the Pole Star,'' said the scientists of Nehru Centre here.
Linear C/1999J3 is a long period comet and the most recent orbital elements indicate that it returns to the inner solar system only once every 63,000 years. ``This is in contrast to the well-known annual meteor showers such as the perseids and leonids,'' IMO said.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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