The following is a slightly edited version of Bob Lunsford’s excellent weekly summary of meteor activity. The original version can be found at the American Meteor Society’s site.
June is another slow month for meteor activity. There are no major showers active in June and only the Antihelion source can be counted on for continuous activity. Even the Antihelion radiant is located so far south this time of year that rates rarely exceed one per hour as seen from the mid-northern hemisphere (45 N) . Sporadic rates have reached their nadir and are now slowly rising as seen from the northern hemisphere. Sporadic rates seen from the mid-southern hemisphere (45 S) see a slow decline this month and a more moderate decline in July.
During this period the moon reaches its last quarter phase on Monday the 11th. At this time the moon will be located ninety degrees west of the sun and will rise near 0100 local daylight time (LDT) as seen from mid-northern latitudes. This weekend the moon will pose a problem to meteor observers but this can be overcome if you observe during the evening hours before the moon rises or face in the opposite direction if the moon lies above the horizon. Transparent skies would help immensely as moonlight would be less scattered throughout the sky. As the week progresses the waning crescent moon will become less of a problem with each passing night. The estimated total hourly meteor rates for evening observers this week is near two for observers in the northern hemisphere and three for those south of the equator. For morning observers the estimated total hourly rates should be near five as seen from mid-northern latitudes and eight from mid-southern latitudes. The actual rates will also depend on factors such as personal light and motion perception, local weather conditions, alertness and experience in watching meteor activity. Morning rates during this period are reduced due to moonlight.
The radiant (the area of the sky where meteors appear to shoot from) positions and rates listed below are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning June 9/10. These positions do not change greatly day to day so the listed coordinates may be used during this entire period.
The following radiant is expected to be active this week:
The large Antihelion (ANT) radiant is currently located at 18:12 (273) -23. This position lies in western Sagittarius, three degrees southwest of the fourth magnitude star Mu Sagittarii. Due to the large size of this radiant, Antihelion activity may also appear from eastern Scorpius, southeastern Ophiuchus, and Scutum as well as Sagittarius. This radiant is best placed near 0200 LDT, when it lies on the meridian and is located highest in the sky. Rates at this time should be near one per hour as seen from the northern hemisphere and two as seen from south of the equator. With an entry velocity of 30 km/sec., the average Antihelion meteor would be of slow velocity.
As seen from the mid-northern hemisphere (45N) one would expect to see approximately four sporadic meteors per hour during the last hour before dawn as seen from rural observing sites. Evening rates would be near one per hour. As seen from the mid-southern hemisphere (45S), morning rates would be near seven per hour as seen from rural observing sites and two per hour during the evening hours. Locations between these two extremes would see activity between the listed figures. Morning rates are reduced due to moonlight.
The list below presents a condensed version of the expected activity this week.
Rates and positions are exact for Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Antihelions (ANT) – 18:12 (273) -23 Velocity 30km/sec
Northern Hemisphere – 1 per hr Southern Hemisphere – 2 per hour
Clear Skies!
Robert Lunsford
American Meteor Society
The Transient Sky - Comets, Asteroids, Meteors 
I saw somewhere around 9;30-9:45 last night a massive meteor. I live in Orangeville, Ontario our house faces north so I was looking south/east – I’ve never seen one this size, I actually thought it was a plane crashing at first. It was a brilliant green with yellow tail. Honestly I wish I had a photo. My husband and boys also saw it so I know I’m not imagining things!!! 🙂
Yes…..it was very large! We could see it from Shanty Bay north of Barrie. It was exactly how you described it. I thought it could have been space junk debris burning up on entry or even a small aircraft!! looked like it could have landed in Simcoe County east of Barrie.
My daughter saw what she thought was a shooting star over our area (Belleville, Ontario, Canada) between 9:30-10:00 p.m. E.D.T. .She described it as also being bright yellow and green with a flame-like tail. Later, her brother, sister and their friends described seeing the same thing while driving. We viewed an online video today filmed last Sept., showing an asteroid chunk burning up in the atmosphere. She said it looked just like it. An asteroid did go by the Earth last night, but haven’t found any reports online yet of pieces entering our atmosphere.
I saw this too! Longest brightest meteor & trail I’ve ever seen in all my 48 years! There are many online reports of it actually. Too many to post them all. Just google “meteor june 14 2012” You’ll find it was a piece of Asteroid 2012 LZ1 which flew it’s closest to the Earth on June 14th at 11 pm. May I ask where you saw that video from last September?
i saw the same thing,never saw one before,at first i had no ideal what i just saw,it had a green red glow to it, i saw it june 14 2012 between 930 1000pm french river ontario canada
Hi Everyone,
Yes, a spectacular fireball was seen last Thursday evening (around 9:52 pm) from Ontario to Pennsylvania. For more info go to the American Meteor Society’s page on the event.
You can also file your own sighting there as well.
– Carl
saw large fireball or meteor over north phoenix on june 13,2012 at 10 pm.anyone else see same.