RUS

The meteor group belongs to the Department of Small Bodies of the Solar System of the Astronomical Observa-tory of Odessa National University. The meteor group carries out research studies on the various meteor subjects. The group consists of 5 scientists. There are 5 research assistants, one engineer, two post-graduates and one student.

At present the main fields of research are the next:

• · The birth of the young meteor streams near the Sun and an investigation of the new possible mechanisms of the me-teor stream formation.
• · An interaction between the meteor showers with the Earth’s atmosphere. The influence of the meteor dust particles on the ozone layer.
• · An inflow of the meteor dust into the Earth’s atmosphere. Luminescence of the atmospheric lines as an indicator of the interaction between meteor dust particles and the Earth’s atmosphere.
• · Physics of the meteor phenomena. Observations and numerical simulations of the light curves of meteors and fire-balls.
• · Distribution and evolution of the interplanetary dust in the Solar System. The structure of the zodiacal light and of the gegenschein.

Astronomical observations are the very important component of the group studies. Two observational stations of the Odessa observatory are used for this aim. There are Mayaki and Kryzhanovka stations, both situated near to Odessa.. There is Richi-Chretien 60-cm telescope at the Mayaki observational station. It is being under the modernization now.

Three observational programs are carried out now at the Kryzhanovka station:

• · Regular spectrophotometric observations of the twilight luminescence of the atmospheric lines are carried out in order to study global inflow of the meteor dust matter into the Earth’s atmosphere.
• · Regular patrolling of the radiation areas of the meteor showers are performed using 17/30-cm Schmidt telescope and video system.
• · Comet patrolling to determining the astrometric positions of the comets.

Meteor group took part in preparing and carrying out of several expeditions: two meteor-meteoritic expeditions (2000 and 2001) to the dispersion ellipse of the Krymka meteoritic event and two expeditions to the total solar eclipses in Ro-mania, 1999, and Africa (Zambia), 2001 and two expeditions to the Zmeinij Island (Black Sea) - 2003 and 2004 years.

Meteor group always pays a special attention to the work with young astronomers. Such a work is carried out with the students of the Astronomy Department of the Odessa National University.

At this web-page we try to present some interesting topics for the wide astronomical community and amateurs. Let us consider it as our modest contribution to the popularization of the astro-nomical knowledge.