Results of the AKM Video Meteor Network - January 2000
======================================================

January 2000 was a very successful month for the AKM video observers. The 
Quadrantid maximum was completely missed due to clouds, but the weather
became better in the following days and allowed quite a good coverage
of the meteor activity at the begin of the year. Remarkable was January 5./6.: 
All 5 video systems were operated throughout the full night resulting in 253 
meteor records obtained in almost 60 hours effective observing time.
January also proved how different the weather can be within Germany.
At some times there were clouds in Brandenburg and Saxony but clear skies
over North Rhine Westfalia, and at other times it was vice versa.

The automatic video meteor observations that have been carried out in
Germany since March 1999 are unique. Even though other observers also use
video equipment for the observation of selected showers, there are
currently no other video cameras operated at all times. In the first 10
months of operation, an overall of 5 observers were able to record 6474
meteors in 120 nights and 1002.4 hours effective observing time.

Table 1: Observing times of the AKM video observers in 1999

Observer        Nights   Time    Meteors
----------------------------------------
Sirko Molau       76    406.4 h    3901
Juergen Rendtel   72    439.3 h    1851
Ulrich Sperberg   15     95.1 h     318
Michael Gerding    7     57.0 h     276
Mirko Nitschke     3      4.6 h     128

Whereas there was only one active station in Aachen in the first four months,
there has been a second camera station in Marquardt since July. For this 
reason and thanks to improved meteor detection software we obtained much more 
data in the second half of the year (see Table 2). Additional support came
from occasional observations in Salzwedel, Kuehlungsborn, and Dresden.

Most recorded meteors are sporadic or belong to the Leonid or Perseid meteor
shower. However, as shown in Table 3, also many meteors of minor showers were
observed.

Currently all data is collected and revised. The complete '99 data set
will be available on two CD-Roms soon.

Table 2: Monatly distribution of           Table 3: Top-10 meteor 
         observations in 1999                       showers 1999              

Month      Nights  Time  Meteors           Shower         Meteors
--------------------------------           ----------------------
January      -      -        -             Leonids            685
February     -      -        -             Perseids           485
March        6     36.8     91             Taurids            482
April        5     23.4     57             Orionids           387
May          7     24.9     54             delta-Aquarids     123
June         6     23.2     62             kappa-Cygnids       85
July        14     95.7    504             iota-Aquarids       79
August      23    152.1   1594             Piscids             73 
September   19    196.2    525             Geminids            68 
October     19    227.0   1512             epsilon-Geminids    59 
November    11    174.4   1749             ---------------------- 
December    10     48.7    326             Sporadics         3662
--------------------------------
Overall    120   1002.4   6474


1. Observers
============

Code     Name      Place          Camera       FOV     LM   Nights  Time Meteors
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMI  Gerding  Kuehlungsborn IAP1 (0.75/65)  15 deg 8.0 mag   2   25.6 h   76
MOLSI  Molau    Aachen        AVIS (2.0/35)   40 deg 5.0 mag   8   50.8 h  272
NITMI  Nitschke Dresden       VK1 (0.75/50)   20 deg 7.0 mag   6   35.3 h  209
RENJU  Rendtel  Marquardt     CARMEN (1.8/28) 28 deg 4.5 mag  12   63.0 h   90  
SPEUL  Sperberg Salzwedel     ADAM (0.75/50)  20 deg 7.0 mag   2   16.1 h   32
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall                                                       17  190.8 h  679  


2. Observing Times (h)
======================

Jan    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMI   -    -    -    -  11.7   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI   -    -   1.4   -  10.0   -   2.7   -    -  10.9 10.4   -    -    -    -
NITMI   -    -    -    -  11.0  3.6  3.7   -    -    -   5.0  8.0   -    -    -
RENJU   -    -    -    -  12.7  3.5 10.4   -    -    -    -    -   4.3   -    -
SPEUL   -    -    -    -  12.0   -    -    -    -    -   4.1   -    -    -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum     -    -   1.4   -  57.4  7.1 16.8   -    -  10.9 19.5  8.0  4.3   -    -

Jan    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMI   -    -  13.9   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -   0.2  7.5  7.7   -    -    -    -    -
NITMI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -   4.0   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
RENJU   -    -  12.5  1.7   -   2.2   -   2.0  7.2  3.5   -    -    -    -   0.8  2.2
SPEUL   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum     -    -  26.4  1.7   -   2.2   -   6.0  7.4 11.0  7.7   -    -    -   0.8  2.2


3. Results (Meteors)
====================

Jan    01   02   03   04   05   06   07   08   09   10   11   12   13   14   15
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMI   -    -    -    -   34    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI   -    -    4    -   78    -   17    -    -   42   80    -    -    -    -
NITMI   -    -    -    -   86   14    9    -    -    -   19   76    -    -    -
RENJU   -    -    -    -   28    1   16    -    -    -    -    -    3    -    -
SPEUL   -    -    -    -   27    -    -    -    -    -    5    -    -    -    -
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum     -    -    4    -  253   15   42    -    -   42  104   76    3    -    -

Jan    16   17   18   19   20   21   22   23   24   25   26   27   28   29   30   31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
GERMI   -    -   42    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
MOLSI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    4   22   25    -    -    -    -    -
NITMI   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    5    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
RENJU   -    -   13    4    -    1    -    1   12    9    -    -    -    -    1    1
SPEUL   -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sum     -    -   55    4    -    1    -    6    16  31   25    -    -    -    1    1

Sirko Molau, 2000/02/08