UKMON

Cardiff Astronomical Society (CAS) has been recording meteor, sprite and fireball events since joining the United Kingdom Meteor Observation Network (UKMON) in November 2013.

Initially this was accomplished using two systems (Stations) based on analogue cameras and PCs.

CAS Camera 1 was located at Llantwit Fardre under the supervision of Martin Chick, the axis of the field of view was to the East. This station is no longer operational but there are intentions to revive it with the new technology described below for UK005L.

CAS Camera 2 was located at the CAS Observatory in Dyffryn Gardens, the axis of the field of view was to the North-West. This station is no longer operational with the last data recorded in October 2020.

A new station (UK005L) was established at the start of 2022 once again at Dyffryn Gardens, but this time mounted on the north side of the Cory Education Centre. The new station uses a low-light digital video camera with an associated Raspberry Pi microcomputer and software reporting data automatically to UKMON and to the Global Meteor Network (GMN). The data from the camera is processed daily for matching events with other station cameras which results in reliable trajectory calculations rather than a single observation. The data is analysed in the UK by UKMON and in Canada by Global Meteor Network at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Western Ontario.

CAS Camera 3 (UK008V) was established at the Bannau Brycheiniog NP Visitor Centre, Libanus at the end of April 2024. It uses the same technology and procedures as the camera at Dyffryn Gardens (UK005L). The camera has a horizontal view of approximately 90 degrees with the centre of view to the SE.

The UKMON group is a semi-organised group of amateur astronomers who like to run a meteor detection camera as a hobby. Our group is not a registered charity or a non-profit organisation. We are just a group of amateur astronomers, citizen-scientist that some call us.

Picking up a meteorite on the ground is our ultimate goal. Working closely with the Natural History Museum and the Fireball Network we are prepared for meteorite falls as exemplified by the recovery of meteorite material on the 28 February 2021 Winchcombe, Gloucestershire. UKMON currently has 230+ cameras across the UK and now has the ability to calculate a fall including an estimated area for a recovery search.

The Global Meteor Network is a world-wide organization of amateur and professional astronomers alike, whose goal is to observe the night sky using low-light video cameras and produce meteor trajectories in a coordinated manner.

This section of the CAS website aims to highlight and inform about the activities of the two cameras managed by Cardiff Astronomical Society which contribute to the UKMON / GMN.