The ejection velocity of meteoroids from cometary nuclei deduced from observations of meteor shower outbursts

The ejection velocities of meteoroids belonging to the Leonid and Perseid meteoroid streams are deduced from the observed differences between the longitude of the ascending node of the outburst meteoroids and that of the parent comet. The difference is very sensitive to the true anomaly of the ejection point, as well as the ejection velocity, and probable values for both are discussed.     

Benefits of an impact mission to 3200 Phaethon: nature of the extinct comet and artificial meteor shower

The asteroid 3200 Phaethon is suggested as a candidate for direct impact research. The object is considered to be an extinct comet and the parent of the Geminid meteor shower. One could say that this provides a possible argument for a space mission. Based on such a mission, this paper proposes to investigate the nature of the extinct comet and the additional interesting possibility of artificially generated meteor showers.
Dust trail theory can calculate the distribution of a bundle of trails and be used to show in which years artificial meteors would be expected. Results indicate that meteor showers will be seen on Earth about 200 yr after the event, on 2022 April 12.     

On the unusual activity of the Perseid meteor shower (1989–96) and the dust trail of comet 109P/Swift–Tuttle

We present the first measurements of the radiant and orbit of meteoroids that are part of the unusual Perseid activity called the 'Perseid Filament'. This filament was encountered by Earth in the years before and after the return of the comet to perihelion in December of 1992. Between 1989 and 1996, there were brief meteor outbursts of near-constant duration with a symmetric activity profile. In 1993, however, rates increased more gradually to the peak. That gradual increase is identified here as a separate dust component, which we call the 'Nodal Blanket'. We find that the Nodal Blanket has a very small radiant dispersion. On the other hand, the Perseid Filament has a radiant that is significantly dispersed and systematically displaced by 0.3°. This dispersion implies that unusually high ejection velocities or planetary perturbations must have had time to disperse the stream. In both cases, one would expect a rapid dispersion of matter along the comet orbit. In order to explain the concentration of dust near the comet position, we propose a novel scenario involving long-term accumulation in combination with protection of the region near the comet against close encounters with Jupiter due to librations of the comet orbit around the 1:11 mean-motion resonance.     

Double station and spectroscopic observations of the Quadrantid meteor shower and the implications for its parent body

Object 2003 EH₁ was recently identified as the parent body of the Quadrantid meteor shower. The origin of this body is still uncertain. We use data on 51 Quadrantid meteors obtained from double-station video observations as an insight on the parent body properties. A data analysis shows that the Quadrantids are similar to other meteor showers of cometary origin in some aspects, but in others to Geminid meteors. Quadrantid meteoroids have partially lost volatile component, but are not depleted to the same extent as Geminid meteoroids. In consideration of the orbital history of 2003 EH₁, these results lead us to the conclusion that the parent body is a dormant comet.     

The Leonid meteor storms of 1833 and 1966

The greatest Leonid meteor storms since the late eighteenth century are generally regarded as being those of 1833 and 1966. They were evidently due to dense meteoroid concentrations within the Leonid stream. At those times, the orbit of Comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle was significantly nearer that of the Earth than at most perihelion returns, but still some tens of Earth radii away. Significantly reducing this miss distance can be critical for producing a storm. Evaluation of differential gravitational perturbations, comparing meteoroids with the comet, shows that, in 1833 and 1966 respectively, the Earth passed through meteoroid trails generated at the 1800 and 1899 returns.     

Cometary outbursts – the post-Deep Impact outlook on collisions as possible causes

The possibility of impacts between comets belonging to the Jupiter Family and other small bodies orbiting in the main asteroid belt, and the consequences in relation to cometary activity are discussed. The probability of such events and the jumps in cometary brightness caused by impacts are examined. The results are compared with the results of the Deep Impact mission to Comet 9P/Tempel 1. The main conclusion of this paper is in agreement with previous findings, namely that an impact mechanism cannot be the main cause of the outburst activity of comets.     

The outburst of the κ Cygnids in 2007: clues about the catastrophic break up of a comet to produce an Earth-crossing meteoroid stream

Using high-resolution, low-scan-rate, all-sky CCD cameras and high-level CCD video cameras, the SPanish Meteor and fireball Network (SPMN) recorded the 2007 κ Cygnid fireball outburst from several observing stations. Here, accurate trajectory, radiant and orbital data obtained for the κ Cygnid meteor are presented. The typical astrometric uncertainty is 1–2 arcmin, while velocity determination errors are of the order of 0.3–0.6 km s⁻¹, though this depends on the distance of each event to the station and its particular viewing geometry. The observed orbital differences among 1993 and 2007 outbursts support the hypothesis that the formation of this meteoroid stream is a consequence of the fragmentation of a comet nucleus. Such disruptive process proceed as a cascade, where the break up of the progenitor body leads to produce small remnants, some fully disintegrate into different clumps of particles and other remaining as dormant objects such as 2008ED69, 2001MG1 and 2004LA12 which are now observed as near-Earth asteroids. In addition to the orbital data, we present a unique spectrum of a bright  κ  Cygnid fireball revealing that the main rocky components have chondritic abundances, and estimations of the tensile strength of those fireballs that exhibited a catastrophic disruption behaviour. All this evidence of the structure and composition of the κ Cygnid meteoroids is consistent with being composed by fine-grained materials typically released from comets.     

On the mechanisms leading to orphan meteoroid streams

We analyse several mechanisms capable of creating orphan meteoroid streams (OMSs) for which a parent has not been identified. OMSs have been observed as meteor showers since the XIXth century and by the IRAS satellite in the 1980s. We find that the process of close encounters with giant planets (particularly Jupiter) is the most efficient mechanism to create them: only a limited section of the stream is perturbed and follows the parent body on its new orbit, while the majority of the meteoroids remain in their pre-encounter orbit or in an intermediate state, breaking the link with their parent body. Cometary non-gravitational forces can also contribute to the process since they cause the comet to drift away from its stream. However, they are not sufficient by themselves to produce an OMS. Resonances can either split or confine a stream over a long time (>1000 yr). Some meteoroid streams may look like OMSs since their parent comet is dormant or not observable (e.g. long period). Even if new techniques succeed in linking minor objects to meteoroid streams, OMSs will still exist simply because cometary nuclei are subject to complete disruption leading to their disappearance.