Alpha Monocerotids

The Alpha Monocerotids is a meteor shower with the international acronym AMO active in November, not to be confused with the December Monocerotids, international acronym MON. The swarm is visible every year from 15 to 25 November; its peak occurs on 21 or 22 November. The speed of its meteors is 65 km/s. Normally it has a low Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR), but occasionally it produces remarkable meteor storms that last less than an hour: such outbursts were observed in 1925, 1935, 1985, and 1995. Peter Jenniskens predicted the 1995 return based on the hypothesis that these outbursts were caused by the dust trail of a long period comet occasionally wandering in Earth's path due to planetary perturbations. During observations in southern Spain, assisted by a team of observers of the Dutch Meteor Society, Jenniskens confirmed that the meteoroids were moving in a long-period comet orbit. The outburst of 1995 allowed researchers to determine the exact radiant of the swarm and the solar longitude of its peak as well as to confirm the brevity of Alpha Monocerotids outbursts as less than one hour. The parent body, probably a long-period comet, is unknown.