Periodic Variability of Visual Sporadic Meteor Rates

A long-term variability of visual sporadic meteor hourly rates is studied in the period between 1984 and 2006. The present analysis involves four particular periods of visual sporadic meteor activity in January, March, July and September over two solar cycles, and the results reveal that the observed visual sporadic meteor rates vary periodically in the course of the solar cycle. It is found that the highest sporadic meteor rates are observed in the years near solar activity maxima, and their variability directly correlates with solar activity expressed by International sunspot numbers.     

GAIA Photometric System: Simulation of Photometric Observations

We present a software package developed for modelling of the GAIA photometric observations. The modelling procedure is very flexible and fully controlled via the parameter file. Therefore, configuration of the GAIA telescopes and photometric systems, as well as the object samples under investigation, can be adjusted easily. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.