RADAR MEASUREMENTS OF METEOROID DECELERATIONS

Measurements of meteoroid velocities and decelerations have been obtained from post-t ₀ diffraction patterns present in echo signatures obtained from the multi-site AMOR radar operated at the University of Canterbury’s research facility. The system allows the sampling of a meteoroid’s velocity at separated points along the body’s trajectory to yield decelerations. The technique has potential value in providing data on the relation between trajectory behaviour, drag characteristics, the physical structure of meteoroids and stream membership or orbit type.     

SINGLE AND MULTI-STATION RADAR OBSERVATIONS OF THE GEMINID/SEXTANTID METEOR STREAM SYSTEM

The Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR) is used to look at the distribution of meteoroids which encounter the Earth. As a single-station operation, it is capable of determining radiant distributions on a statistical basis and the position and speed of individual meteors. The addition of two outlying receiving stations allows the determination of the orientation in space of the meteor leading to an estimate of the orbital parameters of the individual meteor and an independent additional estimate of its speed. Comparison is made of the effectiveness of the two modes of operation using observations on the Geminid and Sextantid meteor streams.     

OPTICAL TRAIL WIDTH MEASUREMENTS OF FAINT METEORS

We report results from two station, short-baseline (< 100 m) high resolution measurements of faint meteors (limiting meteor magnitude +9) with the goal of measuring their optical trail widths. Meteors were observed using two 0.40 m Newtonian telescopes (field of view ˜0.4 degrees) equipped with image intensifiers. Both telescopes were vertically oriented in a fixed mount and pointed to the same field of view. One system used a gated image intensified camera allowing the transverse velocity component to be measured. The widest trail captured, out of a total of 34 common events measured by both optical systems, had a full-width to half-maximum of 1.37±0.71 m. The widest trail overall was captured by the gated system only, and was found to have a full-width of ∼ ∼10 m. The brightness variation across this trail was found to be best represented by a Lorentzian. Most trails were smaller than our resolution limit and hence we could only place upper limits on their optical width. These were generally less than 1 m after correction for instrumental effects. Four meteors were found to have heights near 65 km and very low transverse velocities. These may be indicative of a largely unreported high density asteroidal component at these faint meteor magnitudes.     

Evolution of short period meteoroid streams

The dynamical evolution of meteoroid streams associated with cornets Encke, Halley, Machholz 1986 VIII and asteroid Phaethon is discussed. It is shown that the planetary perturbations can greatly increase the streams thickness and each stream may produce several couples of meteor showers active in different seasons of the year. The theoretical and observed data are in a satisfactory accordance.     

SPECTROSCOPY OF A GEMINID FIREBALL: ITS SIMILARITY TO COMETARY METEOROIDS AND THE NATURE OF ITS PARENT BODY

A detailed analysis of a photographic spectrum of a Geminid fireball obtained in December 14, 1961 at the Ondrejov Observatory is presented. We have computed a synthetic spectrum for the fireball and compared it with the observed spectrum assuming chemical equilibrium in the meteor head. In this way we have determined relative chemical abundances in meteor vapors. Comparing the relative chemical abundances of this Geminid meteoroid with those obtained from meteoroids associated with comets 55P/Tempel-Tuttle and 109P/Swift-Tuttle we found no significant chemical differences in main rock-forming elements. Despite of this similarity, the deepest penetration of the Geminid meteoroids and their ability to reach high rotation rates in space without fragmentation suggest that thermal processing is affecting their physical properties. We suggest that as consequence of space weathering a high-strength envelope is produced around these particles. In this picture, heating processes of the mineral phases could result in the peculiar properties observed during atmospheric entry of the Geminid meteoroids, especially their strength, which is evidenced by its resistance to ablation. Finally, although one meteoroid cannot be obviously considered as representative of the composition of its parent body, we conclude that 3200 Phaethon is able to produce millimetre-size debris nearly chondritic in composition, but the measured slight overabundance of Na would support a cometary origin for this body.     

HIGH SPATIAL AND TEMPORAL RESOLUTION OPTICAL SEARCH FOR EVIDENCE OF METEOROID FRAGMENTATION

A digital image intensified CCD camera with an electronically gated image intensifier was used to produce very short duration images of meteors. The observational system employed a 0.40 m F/4.5 Newtonian telescope to obtain high spatial resolution. A second intensified CCD camera was used to yield height information using parallax. At a typical meteor height one pixel (for the vertically oriented system) corresponded to about 1.1 m. A sampling of 59 mainly sporadic meteors was analyzed. There is clear variability from meteor to meteor, with many meteors (nearly 50%) showing only a small amount of wake, while some meteors (approximately 20%) have the off segments completely filled in.     

The problem of linking minor meteor showers to their parent bodies: initial considerations

Efforts to link minor meteor showers to their parent bodies have been hampered both by the lack of high-accuracy orbits for weak showers and the incompleteness of our sample of potential parent bodies. The Canadian Meteor Orbital Radar (CMOR) has accumulated over one million meteor orbits. From this large data set, the existence of weak showers and the accuracy of the mean orbits of these showers can be improved. The ever-growing catalogue of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) provides the complimentary data set for the linking procedure. By combining a detailed examination of the background of sporadic meteors near the orbit in question (which the radar data makes possible) and by computing the statistical significance of any shower association (which the improved NEA sample allows) any proposed shower–parent link can be tested much more thoroughly than in the past. Additional evidence for the links is provided by a single-station meteor radar at the CMOR site which can be used to dispel confusion between very weak showers and statistical fluctuations in the sporadic background. The use of these techniques and data sets in concert will allow us to confidently link some weak streams to their parent bodies on a statistical basis, while at the same time showing that previously identified minor showers have little or no activity and that some previously suggested linkages may simply be chance alignments.     

Possibility of investigation of the microstreams and associations by the radiotomographic method

This article contains the tomographic problem's solution of the radiants distribution study by the meteor radar data. It was received the distribution of meteors velocities for the parts of celestial sphere with angular dimensions 10° × 10° and 1° × 1°. Was shown that the angular dimensions of most of radiants are equal 1° – 3° and larger part of the sporadic background looks like a totality of microstreams.     

Arietid Meteor Orbits Measurements

The Arietid meteor shower is one of the strongest of the year. The origin of this daytime shower is unknown; the orbit is therefore of great interest, since an accurate orbit distribution is needed to integrate the shower backward in time to test associations with comets or asteroids. The orbital parameters of the Arietid shower as a function of time, with errors, have been generated using 415 radar orbits gathered at the CMOR facility in Tavistock, Canada.     

Techniques For Measuring Radar Meteor Speeds

We compare the results from the application of four different methods to determine the speed of meteoroids from single station radar data. The methods used are the pre-t ₀ amplitude, post-t ₀ amplitude, pre-t ₀ phase and the Fresnel transform (FT) methods. Speeds from the first three methods are compared to the FT method since, requiring the use of the entire records of both the amplitude and phase data, this method is the most accurate of the four.     

Latitudinal Variations of Diurnal Meteor Rates

The presence of a diurnal variation in meteor activity is well established. The sporadic meteor count rates are higher on the local dawn side and lower on the local dusk side. This phenomenon is caused by the Earth’s orbital motion and rotation. Meteor radar measurements have been compared from Esrange, Kiruna, Sweden, at 68° N, from Juliusruh, Germany, at 55° N, and from Ascension Island, at 8° S, to investigate how the diurnal variation depends on season at different latitudes. Data have been used from vernal and autumnal equinoxes and summer and winter solstices to locate the largest seasonal differences.     

Simultaneous observations of meteors with the radar and TV systems

We have carried out a simultaneous observation of radar and optical meteors with the MU radar (Middle and Upper Atmosphere Radar), Shigaraki and TV camera systems. We usually obtained about 20 meteors per an hour with 85 mm lens, but very small part of them are simultaneously observed by the MU radar (< 5%), suggesting the significance of rectangular scatterring. We have analyzed about 20 simultaneous meteors with magnitudes from 0 to +5.5, most of which are overdense meteors. For Geminid meteors, a linear relation between the logarithm of the echo duration and the absolute magnitude of the TV meteor, was deduced.     

狮子座流星雨1999年照相观测的分析

对1999年11月19日拍摄的两张狮子座流星胶片进行了分析研究照相观测比目观测记录了更多的定量信息计算了流星在胶片上显露时必须满足的运动角速度条件,求出了流星起始点仰角、流星结束点与辐射点的角距离、流星运动的角速度以及流星路径的弧长等并且得出流星在大气中的烧蚀时间仅0 65秒左右,即烧蚀的路径长约40 50公里通过在扫描仪上得到的黑白图像的处理,求得两颗流星的照相星等分别为-10.3 ± 0.2和-4.8±0.2.由此可以得到它们的质量和电子线密度.给出的处理方法,也可用于其他流星的照相观测资料处理.并且,对流星观测使用的照相镜头也进行了讨论.     

Meteor velocities: A new look at an old problem

Meteoroids that orbit the Sun encounter the Earth with speeds between 11 and 74 km/sec. However, the distribution of the velocities of meteoroids between these limits is not well known. The uncertainty is caused by the difficulty in measuring the true flux of meteors at the extrema of the velocity distribution. Whilst the most comprehensive measurements of meteor flux are those obtained using radio techniques, meteors with speeds > 50 km/sec occur at heights where the effects of initial radius of the trail and diffusion significantly reduce the radio reflection from the trails; on the other hand the high dependence of the collisional ionization probability on velocity (to the power 3.5) significantly inhibits the detection of meteors with speeds < 20 km/sec. Recent developments in meteor radar systems are now making it possible to measure the velocity of meteors at the extrema of the distribution. For meteoroids ablating at heights between 100 and 120 km the speed of entry can be measured at 2 and 6 MHz using a radar with a 1 km diameter array located near Adelaide; these observations will commence early in 1995. In the meantime a 54 MHz MST radar is being operated at a pulse repetition frequency of 1024 Hz to search for the presence of interstellar (speed > 74 km/sec) meteors. Both these radars exploit the phase information available prior to the closest-approach (t_o) point.     

Associations of Meteor Microshowers or as the Kazan Radar “SEES” Radiants on Northern Celestial Hemisphere

The discrete quasitomographic method of the analysis of the interferometric data of meteor radar gives us the possibility of measuring coordinates and velocities of very weak meteor showers with a 2 × 2 square degree resolution on the celestial sphere. The minimal rate of the meteors in each microstream is five meteors per day. At such sensitivity, basic distinctions between irregularities of the sporadic background and meteor streams vanish. More than 1000 of the detected microshowers per month are associated with a combination of (a) the large known meteor showers, (b) the weaker known meteor showers and (c) till now unknown associations of microshowers. All microshowers regardless of association have the identical velocities, limited areas of radiation and near simultaneity of their acting dates. The results are compiled as maps of radiant distribution and average velocities of microstreams for different months. From these it is possible to see how the microshower activity for various discrete sites on the celestial sphere correlate with the behavior of the well-known meteor streams and thus to infer the orbital properties of the different microstream configurations.     

ON THE FUTURE PROSPECTS OF METEOR DETECTIONS (INVITED REVIEW)

The successful application of modern observing techniques for Leonid storm observations show that meteor (shower) detections will have a bright future if the field will pursue difficult but important questions. How to forecast a satellite threatening meteor storm? What happens to the organic matter in meteors and can this be an important source of prebiotic molecules? What range of variations in composition and morphology exists among cometary grains and what does this tell us about the origin of the solar system? What long-period comets approach Earth orbit and can meteoroid streams provide early warning for giant impacts? What are the sources of interstellar and interplanetary grains? Just to mention a few. To answer these questions will need new technologies and facilities, some of which are being developed for other use. This may include NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared and sub-millimeter Astronomy (SOFIA). In addition, big-science space missions can drive the field if meteor detections are an integral part. Special events, such as meteor outbursts and the “artificial meteor” from the reentry of sample return capsules from interplanetary space, can mobilize observing and theoretical efforts. These and other future opportunities are briefly discussed.     

MASS FLUX OF ASTEROIDAL ORIGIN METEOROIDS ON PERIODIC COMET NUCLEI

We examine the potential contamination of cometary nuclei through impacts from asteroidal origin meteoroids. The paper uses a simple model and has the goal of determining whether asteroidal contamination is potentially significant. We assume a meteoroid power law mass distribution with index values in the range from s=1.83 to s=2.09. We used maximum and minimum models which we believe will bracket the true meteoroid mass distribution. We identify those comets which are expected to be most significantly contaminated, and find values of up to 3.6 kg of asteroidal meteoroid impact per square meter of the cometary surface per orbital revolution. This is less than the expected mass loss per perihelion passage for most comets. Therefore any remnant effects of the contamination will depend on the penetration depth of the meteoroids in the cometary nucleus, and possibly on the distribution of active and inactive areas on cometary nuclei. We present a simple model which suggests that even small meteoroids will embed relatively deeply into a cometary nucleus.     

恒星形成区磁场的VLBI测量

利用VLBI MKIII系统多磁道记录的优点,在1665和1667MHz两个频率上,同时观测活动恒星形成区 W3(OH)的左右圆偏振羟基分子脉泽辐射。发现了三个Zeeman对,由脉泽子源的速度分裂导得磁场约为6mG,我们估计恒星形成区的磁场和氢气体密度有关系B～n~(0.54)。