By Yury Harachka, Alexander Aitov
Abstract: A possible new meteor shower has been discovered on August 27, 2025 (at λʘ = 153.7°) by Belarusian and Ukrainian video meteor networks. The radiant at α = 47.9° and δ = +11.8° is situated at the border between the constellations Aries and Cetus, with a geocentric velocity vg of 64.3 ± 3.2 km/s.
Observations
During the night of 26–27 August 2025, the Belarusian and the Ukrainian meteor networks recorded activity from an unidentified radiant at the border between the constellations Aries and Cetus. Four multi-station meteors with very close radiants were captured. Figure 1 shows images of all 4 meteors, which had a fast angular velocity and absolute magnitudes in the range –2.1m to 0.0m. All meteors were registered within the interval in solar longitude of 153.6742° to 153.7278° and during a short period lasting 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Figure 1 – Four meteors from the possible new meteor shower recorded during the night of 26–27 August 2025.
Figure 2 Figure 2 shows the projection of recorded meteors onto the Earth’s surface.
Figure 2 – Meteor trajectories from this unknown radiant in projected on the Earth’s surface.
Results
The data were processed in UFOOrbit (SonotaCo). Table 1 shows the calculated individual parameters for each meteor on August 27, 2024.
Table 1 – The orbital parameters of the four meteors recorded from the possible new meteor shower.
| Meteor | 2025-08-27 00:46:00 UT |
2025-08-27 01:07:32 UT |
2025-08-27 01:36:05 UT |
2025-08-27 02:05:56 UT |
| λʘ (°) | 153.6742 | 153.6887 | 153.7078 | 153.7278 |
| Abs Mag | 0.0 | -0.9 | -2.1 | -1.8 |
| αg (°) | 48.58 | 47.45 | 48.02 | 47.54 |
| δg (°) | 11.84 | 11.87 | 11.78 | 11.68 |
| Elng (°) | 49.38 | 48.32 | 48.39 | 48.02 |
| Elat (°) | -5.95 | -5.62 | -6.23 | -6.06 |
| Vg (km/s) | 63.28 | 67.06 | 66.68 | 60.22 |
| a (A.U.) | 1.90 | 5.21 | 4.27 | 1.36 |
| q (A.U.) | 0.740 | 0.783 | 0.789 | 0.626 |
| e | 0.611 | 0.850 | 0.815 | 0.538 |
| ω (°) | 72.920 | 59.288 | 59.144 | 94.948 |
| Ω (°) | 333.673 | 333.688 | 333.707 | 333.727 |
| i (°) | 168.24 | 169.33 | 168.86 | 167.79 |
The radiant parameters and orbital elements averaged for the four meteors are as follows:
λʘ = 153.6996° ± 0.0233°
αg = 47.90° ± 0.52°
δg = 11.79° ± 0.09°
Vg = 64.3 ± 3.2 km/s
a = 3.18 ± 1.85 AU
q = 0.735 ± 0.076 AU
e = 0.703 ± 0.152
ω = 71.575° ± 16.868°
Ω = 333.699° ± 0.023°
i = 168.56° ± 0.68°
Figure 3 shows the distribution of the radiants at the celestial sphere at the border between the constellations Aries and Cetus.
Figure 3 – Distribution of the radiants at the celestial sphere. The red circle indicates the radiant area of the possible new meteor shower.
It should be noted that the radiant of the zeta-Arietids (ZAR, #00193) is located 2 degrees northeast of the unidentified activity. However, this meteor shower was removed from the IAU MDC list of active showers. In addition, the peak activity of the zeta-Arietids shower is indicated as Sol 146.7°, which is approximately 7 days earlier. This makes the relation between the unidentified activity and the zeta-Arietids unlikely.
Acknowledgment
The author would like to thank all operators and people involved in the Belarusian and Ukrainian meteor networks. We would especially like to thank our Ukrainian colleagues who continue to be involved in meteor astronomy during this difficult time for Ukraine. The author would also like to thank Paul Roggemans for his help in writing this report.
References
SonotaCo, www.sonotaco.com
IAU MDC, https://www.ta3.sk/IAUC22DB/MDC2022/Roje/roje_lista.php?corobic_roje=0&sort_roje=0
