Meteor Outbursts Point To More Showers

NASA has set up an "All Sky Sentinel Camera" to monitor the sky for incoming meteors. There are two cameras set 100 miles apart the continuously watch the sky. These nifty little gadgets are computer controlled, so that if a streak of light is detected, they will start recording. They can also determine the origin of the meteor by measuring its trajectory, and comparing it with known comets. So far, in their short period of operations they have detected a number of smaller outbursts, including a single centimeter sized object that produce an explosion equivalent to 500 lbs. of TNT. This particular object was determined to come from the asteroid belt.

Automation of monitoring the skies for meteors is the way to go. You can use video detection as NASA is pursuing, or you can also use radio detection.

In the past, I have seen radio listening stations used as monitors that measured meteor pings. These monitors listened for far away echoes of television stations using Yagi antenna. Computer software then analyzed incoming signals that bounced off the scatter to determine whether it was a meteor or not. The measurements were taken around the 6M band, which is the sweet spot for hams working meteor scatter.

There are some pretty detailed instructions on how to build a meteor detection station, and I used to see some real time information being posted to the web. I have not seen any of these sites in a couple of years, as it seems that interest has waned. Would love to have one of these in my backyard! If you know of any, feel free to drop me a note.