On separation of major meteoroid streams from the sporadic background

The paper deals with a search for chosen photographic meteoroid streams compiled from the IAU Meteor Data Center Lund catalogue from which less than 2% of the orbits had to be removed due to internal inconsistency among the orbit parameters. Additional 35 orbits were removed due to extremely high hyperbolic velocities. The final set consists of 3411 orbits. Members of the Quadrantids, Lyrids, Perseids and Geminids were searched for, firstly, by a stream-search procedure utilizing the Southworth-HawkinsD-criterion. This choice, as a rule, represents the most abundant filament of the stream. Secondly, rate distribution histograms ofD were divided into region of shower meteors and region of sporadic background meteors. The searched database with a relatively low abundance of sporadic meteors in the analyzed periods simplified this choice, and followingly, fitting the obtained values by means of power and exponential functions, the limitingD _s for particular showers were derived. The derivedD _s appears as the optimum value, as for higherD, the number of sporadic meteors included in the stream sample increases more rapidly than the number of additional shower meteors, and for smallerD, the number of shower meteors decreases quicker than the number of omitted sporadic meteors. The following counts of shower meteorsN and limitingD _s were found: Quadrantids (39, 0.22), Lyrids (11, 0.15), Perseids (595, 0.53) and Geminids (224, 0.32). Efficiency of the procedure was tested comparing the number of sporadic meteors in the region of radiant area and the neighbouring regions of the same size.     

Semimajor axes of the orbits and ejection velocities of Perseid meteoroids

Photographic orbits of meteors are combined with modeling of the ejection of Perseids during the perihelion passage of comet Swift-Tuttle in 1862 to analyze the most likely ejection velocities of particles from the comet nucleus. Given the scatter of the semimajor axes of observed Perseids with masses greater than 10^–4 g, the most likely interval of ejection velocities spans 0 to 300 m/s for particles ejected in the plane of the comet orbit in the retrograde direction and in the direction of the comets anomalous tail.__________Translated from Astronomicheskii Vestnik, Vol. 39, No. 2, 2005, pp. 184–190.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Ishmukhametova, Kondrateva.     

Meteoroid Stream Searching: The Use of the Vectorial Elements

In this initial study, we propose a new distance function D _V involving heliocentric vectorial orbital elements. The function measures differences between: the orbital energies, the angular momentums vectors and the Laplace vectors. In comparison with the widely used D _SH criterion of Southworth and Hawkins, D _D criterion of Drummond and their hybrid D _H by Jopek, the new function contains one invariant with respect to the principal secular perturbation: the orbital energy. The new function proved to be useful in the classification amongst the IAU2003 meteoroids which we searched for streams by D _V function and also using D _SH and D _N -function given by Valsecchi et al. For major streams, the results agree very well. For minor, and near-ecliptical streams the results sometimes differ markedly.     

Effect of solar radiation on a swarm of meteoric particles

The theory of the Poynting-Robertson effect is applied to the motion of meteors relative to a parent-comet describing an undisturbed elliptic orbit. It is shown that initially any emitted particle proceeds to move retrogressively away from the comet to a certain maximum angular distance (as seen from the Sun) depending on its s-value, and thereafter undergoes relative motion in the opposite forward direction. The time taken to reach this greatest elongation behind the comet is the same for all particles, and after twice this time the particles will have returned to zero angular displacement relative to the comet. As the inward radial displacement is of far smaller order of magnitude, this means that a swarm of particles will come together again simultaneously, and then move on forwards relative to the comet as they are drawn in slowly towards the Sun. For comet Encke the time for the elongation to return to zero is about 6600 y, for Halley it is about 2×10⁵ y, and for Tempel-Tuttle (1965 IV) just over 10⁵ y. Since this last comet is known to have been deflected from a long-period orbit to a short-period orbit in the year 126 A.D., the theory yields an upper limit to the s-values of about 2.3×10^–2 g cm^–2 for such of its particles as have spread right round the orbit to give rise to the annual November Leonids. Also, for the great meteor-storms associated with this comet, the particles are still moving close behind the comet itself, and their s-values must be about 6.2×10^–2 g cm^–2. This result together with their observed brightnesses suggest that the particles have an effective density little more than 0.1 g cm^–3.     

A procedure of selection of meteors from major streams for determination of mean orbits

A procedure of selection of meteoroids from major streams is suggested and applied to the IAU Lund photographic database modified by a check for internal consistency among orbital elements (3411 orbits). Limits for choice of stream members were defined by break points on the plots of the cumulative numberN _C vs. the Southworth-HawkinsD discriminant. For the break points were considered the points from which the dependenceN _C vs.D changes to a quasi-linear one, and with the increasingD, N _C changes only moderately. Except for the Taurids which desire a separate analysis, theN _C vs.D diagrams are presented for the following major meteoroid streams: Quadrantids, Lyrids, Aquarids, Capricornids, N and S Aquarids, Perseids, Orionids, Leonids and Geminids. The mean orbits, velocities and radiants of the streams are derived and compared with the osculating orbits of their parent bodies. The limitingD _B was found to be a function of the number of the stream membersN _CB. Omitting the exceptionally concentrated Geminids, the relation is in the formD _B = 0.058 *ln(N _CB) – 0.04.     

Comparison of the structures of meteor streams of cometary and possible asteroidal origin

The structures of the meteor streams of cometary origin—Draconids, Ursids, Perseids, and Lyrids—and the streams presumably connected with asteroids—Taurids and α-Capricornids—are compared. The comparative analysis was performed by the mass distribution of meteoroids in the stream and the activity profile for the meteors with the maximum recorded stellar magnitude +3 ^m and brighter. Visual observations of 1987–2008 from the database of the International Meteor Organization (IMO) and earlier sources were considered. It has been shown that the structures of the meteor streams of cometary and, presumably, asteroidal origin differ somewhat by the activity profile and the mass distribution of meteoroids in the cross-section of a stream along the Earth’s orbit.     

The role of solar-wind velocity-waves in comet outburst activity

Comet outburst activity and the structure of solar wind streams were compared on the basis of Pioneer 10, 11, Vela 3 and IMP 7, 8 measurements at the heliocentric distance r ≈ 1–6 AU. It is shown that the solar wind velocity waves which are evolving into corotating shock waves beyond the Earth orbit may be responsible for comet outburst activity. The correlation between variations of comet outburst activity with heliocentric distance and the behavior of the solar wind velocity waves is established. The closeness of the characteristic times for the velocity waves and comet outburst activity (7–8 days at r = 1 AU) as well as the simultaneous growth of both the characteristic times with r are noted. The observed distribution of the comet outburst activity parameters during the 11-year cycle is also in good agreement with the phase distributions during the 11-year cycle of variations of the coronal hole areas and the rate of change of the sunspot area δS _p.     

Earth-orbit-approaching comets and their theoretical meteor radiants

Sixteen comets produce recognizable meteor showers that are found in A. F. Cook's (1973, In Evolutionary and Physical Properties of Meteoroids (C. L. Hemenway, P. M. Millman, and A. F. Cook, Eds.), pp. 183–191, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D.C.), working list of meteor streams. Of these, five are long period, including one in a parabolic and one in a hyperbolic orbit. The largest Earth-comet orbit miss distance is 0.20 AU for P/Encke and the Northern and Southern Taurids. Using this is an upper limit for meteor showers from comets, all comets which approach the Earth's orbit to within 0.20 AU were extracted from the Catalogue of Cometary Orbits (B. G. Marsden, 1979. 3rd ed., Central Bureau of Astronomical Telegrams, IAU SAO, Cambridge, Mass.). A compilation of such comets is presented by date minimum approach, along with the distance of closest approach and the theoretical geocentric radiants and velocities of possible associated meteor showers. Both pre- and postpperihelion encounters with the Earth's orbit are considered. There are 240 entries for 178 long-period comets, and 36 for 28 short-period comets. It is noted that all short-period comets that have approached the Earth's orbit to within 0.08 AU have produced meteors, except P/Lexell, P/Finlay, P/Denning-Fujikawa, and P/Grigg-Skjellerup. Attention is called to the favorable observing conditions for detecting meteors from P/Grigg-Skjellerup in April 1982, and for the possibility of another great Draconid storm from P/Giacobini-Zinner in October 1985. A comparison is made between observed sporadic meteor rates and the distribution of theoretical radiants throughout the year, from which it is concluded that the currently known comets can account for sporadic meteors. A criterion is developed to test whether or not an observed meteor shower can be associated with a given theoretical radiant. Based on known examples, a qualitative model for comet/meteor relationships is also presented.     

A meteoroid stream survey using the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar: I. Methodology and radiant catalogue

Using a meteor orbit radar, a total of more than 2.5 million meteoroids with masses ∼10⁻⁷ kg have had orbits measured in the interval 2002-2006. From these data, a total of 45 meteoroid streams have been identified using a wavelet transform approach to isolate enhancements in radiant density in geocentric coordinates. Of the recorded streams, 12 are previously unreported or unrecognized. The survey finds >90% of all meteoroids at this size range are part of the sporadic meteoroid background. A large fraction of the radar detected streams have q<0.15 AU suggestive of a strong contribution from sungrazing comets to the meteoroid stream population currently intersecting the Earth. We find a remarkably long period of activity for the Taurid shower (almost half the year as a clearly definable radiant) and several streams notable for a high proportion of small meteoroids only, among these a strong new shower in January at the time of the Quadrantids (January Leonids). A new shower (Epsilon Perseids) has also been identified with orbital elements almost identical to Comet 96P/Machholz.     

Dust Trails of 8P/Tuttle and the Unusual Outbursts of the Ursid Shower

We calculate the position of dust trails from comet 8P/Tuttle, in an effort to explain unusual Ursid meteor shower outbursts that were seen when the comet was near aphelion. Comet 8P/Tuttle is a Halley-type comet in a 13.6-year orbit, passing just outside of Earth's orbit. We find that the meteoroids tend to be trapped in the 12:14 mean motion resonance with Jupiter, while the comet librates in a slightly shorter period orbit around the 13:15 resonance. It takes 6 centuries to decrease the perihelion of the meteoroid orbits enough to intersect Earth's orbit, during which time the meteoroids and comet separate in mean anomaly by 6 years, thus explaining the 6-year lag between the comet's return and Ursid outbursts. The resonances also prevent dispersion along the comet orbit and limit viewing to only one year in each return. We identified past dust trail encounters with dust trails from 1392 (Dec. 1945) and 1378 (Dec. 1986) and predicted another outburst on 2000 December 22 at around 7:29 and 8:35 UT, respectively, from dust trails dating to the 1405 and 1392 returns. This event was observed from California using video and photographic techniques. At the same time, five Global-MS-Net stations in Finland, Japan, and Belgium counted meteors using forward meteor scatter. The outburst peaked at 8:06±07 UT, December 22, at zenith hourly rate ∼90 per hour, and the Ursid rates were above half peak intensity during 4.2 h. We find that most Ursid orbits do scatter around the anticipated positions, confirming the link with comet 8P/Tuttle and the epoch of ejection. The 1405 and 1392 dust trails appear to have contributed similar amounts to the activity profile. Some orbits provide a hint of much older debris being present as well. This work is the strongest evidence yet for the relevance of mean motion resonances in Halley-type comet dust trail evolution.     

A probability of encounter with interstellar comets and the likelihood of their existence

A theory of the probability of encounter of the Sun with an interstellar comet at a distance comparable to the Earth-Sun distance is formulated, and a general expression is derived establishing the relationship among the influx rate of interstellar comets, the perihelion distance, the space density of the comets, the Maxwellian distribution of comet velocities in the interstellar cloud, and the cloud's systematic velocity relative to the Sun. The fact that no comet with a strongly hyperbolic orbit has so far been observed is used to determine an upper limit of 6 × 10^?4 solar masses per cubic parsec (4 × 10^?26 gcm^?3) for the space density of interstellar comets. The theoretical distribution of semimajor axes of interstellar comets is derived to show that a strong hyperbolic excess must be present in the orbits of a majority of interstellar comets regardless of the dynamical characteristics of the comet cloud, except when the cloud is moving along with the Sun and the distribution of individual velocities has a very low dispersion. This case, however, implies a possibility of capture by the Sun and thus becomes a problem of an Oort-type cloud.     

MSFC Stream Model Preliminary Results: Modeling Recent Leonid and Perseid Encounters

The cometary meteoroid ejection model of Jones and Brown [Physics, Chemistry, and Dynamics of Interplanetary Dust, ASP Conference Series 104 (1996b) 137] was used to simulate ejection from comets 55P/Tempel-Tuttle during the last 12 revolutions, and the last 9 apparitions of 109P/Swift-Tuttle. Using cometary ephemerides generated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s (JPL) HORIZONS Solar System Data and Ephemeris Computation Service, two independent ejection schemes were simulated. In the first case, ejection was simulated in 1 h time steps along the comet’s orbit while it was within 2.5 AU of the Sun. In the second case, ejection was simulated to occur at the hour the comet reached perihelion. A 4th order variable step-size Runge–Kutta integrator was then used to integrate meteoroid position and velocity forward in time, accounting for the effects of radiation pressure, Poynting–Robertson drag, and the gravitational forces of the planets, which were computed using JPL’s DE406 planetary ephemerides. An impact parameter (IP) was computed for each particle approaching the Earth to create a flux profile, and the results compared to observations of the 1998 and 1999 Leonid showers, and the 1993 and 2004 Perseids.     

Search for circum‐planetary material and orbital period variations of short‐period Kepler exoplanet candidates

A unique short‐period (P = 0.65356(1) d) Mercury‐size Kepler exoplanet candidate KIC012557548b has been discovered recently by Rappaport et al. (2012). This object is a transiting disintegrating exoplanet with a circum‐planetary material–comet‐like tail. Close‐in exoplanets, like KIC012557548b, are subjected to the greatest planet‐star interactions. This interaction may have various forms. In certain cases it may cause formation of the comet‐like tail. Strong interaction with the host star, and/or presence of an additional planet may lead to variations in the orbital period of the planet. Our main aim is to search for comet‐like tails similar to KIC012557548b and for long‐term orbital period variations. We are curious about frequency of comet‐like tail formation among short‐period Kepler exoplanet candidates. We concentrate on a sample of 20 close‐in candidates with a period similar to KIC012557548b from the Kepler mission. We first improved the preliminary orbital periods and obtained the transit light curves. Subsequently we searched for the signatures of a circum‐planetary material in these light curves. For this purpose the final transit light curve of each planet was fitted with a theoretical light curve, and the residuals were examined for abnormalities. We then searched for possible long‐term changes of the orbital periods using the method of phase dispersion minimization. In 8 cases out of 20 we found some interesting peculiarities, but none of the exoplanet candidates showed signs of a comet‐like tail. It seems that the frequency of comet‐like tail formation among short‐period Kepler exoplanet candidates is very low. We searched for comet‐like tails based on the period criterion. Based on our results we can conclude that the short‐period criterion is not enough to cause comet‐like tail formation. This result is in agreement with the theory of the thermal wind and planet evaporation (Perez‐Becker & Chiang 2013). We also found 3 cases of candidates which showed some changes of the orbital period. Based on our results we can see that orbital period changes are not caused by comet‐like tail disintegration processes, but rather by possible massive outer companions. (© 2014 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the cometary nature of near-Earth asteroid 2003 EH1

Differential evolution of the orbits of near-Earth asteroid (NEA) 2003 EH1 and comet 96P/Machholz 1 under perturbing action of planets was investigated for the time interval of 28000 years. The similarity of the orbits was analyzed with the Southworth–Hawkins criterion D _SH. It has been shown that both the comet and the asteroid can be fragments of a nucleus of the same larger comet being a progenitor of the Quadrantid complex. A break-up of the parent comet apparently occurred approximately 9500 years ago. NEA 2003 EH1 is actually a dormant fragment of a nucleus of the parent comet. It was concluded that comet 96P/Machholz 1, NEA (186256) 2003 EH1 of the Amore group, and the Quadrantid meteorite swarm form a family of related objects.     

A model of the galactic tidal interaction with the oort comet cloud

We consider a model of the in situ Oort cloud which is isotropic with a random distrihution of perihelia directions and angular momenta. The energy distribution adopted has a continuous range of values appropriate for long-period (>200 yr) comets. Only the tidal torque of the Galaxy is included as a perturbation of comet orbits and it is approximated to be that due to a quasi-steady state distribution of matter with disk-like symmetry. The time evolution of all orbital elements can be analytically obtained for this case. In particular, the change in the perihelion distance per orbit and its dependence on other orbital elements is readily found. We further make the assumption that a comet whose perihelion distance was beyond 15 AU during its last passage through the Solar System would have orbit parameters that are essentially unchanged by planetary perturbations. Conversely, if the prior passage was inside 15 AU we assume that planetary perturbations would have removed the comet from the in situ energy distribution accessible by the galactic tide. Comets which had their perihelia changed from beyond 15 AU to within 5 AU in a single orbit are taken to be observable. We are able to track the evolution of 10⁶ comets as they are made observable by the galactic tidal touque. Detailed results are obtained for the predicted distribution of new (0 < 1/ < 10^–4 AU^–1) comets. Further, correlations between orbital elements can be studied. We present predictions of observed distributions and compare them with the random in situ results as well as with the actual observed distributions of class I comets. The predictions are in reasonable agreement with actual observations and, in many cases, are significantly different from random when perihelia directions are separated into galactic northern and southern hemispheres. However the well-known asymmetry in the north-south populations of perihelia remains to be explained. Such an asymmetry is consistent with the dominance of tidal torques today if a major stochastic event produced it in the past since tidal torques are unable to cause the migration of perihelia across the latitude barriers ±26°.6 in the disk model.     

High resolution scans of Comet Kohoutek in the vicinity of 5015, 5890, and 6563 Å

High resolution scans were made of Comet Kohoutek (1973f) using the McMath solar telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory. The data were taken on January 1 and 4, 1974 UT, just after the comet perihelion. Hα emission (～4.1 × 10²⁷ photon sec^?1) was observed from the head of the Comet. An upper limit on the He I(5015) radiation was determined to be less than 2% of the observed Hα emission. The Na D1/D2 line intensities on both nights were approximately 0.5, indicating an optically thin emission region.     

Search for New Parent Bodies of Meteoroid Streams Among Comets. I. Showers of Comets 126P/1996 P1 and 161P/2004 V2 with Radiants on Southern Sky

We deal with theoretical meteoroid streams the parent bodies of which are two Halley-type comets in orbits situated at a relatively large distance from the orbit of Earth: 126P/1996 P1 and 161P/2004 V2. For two perihelion passages of each comet in the far past, we model the theoretical stream and follow its dynamical evolution until the present. We predict the characteristics of potential meteor showers according to the dynamical properties of theoretical particles currently approaching the orbit of the Earth. Our dynamical study reveals that the comet 161P/2004 V2 could have an associated Earth-observable meteor shower, although no significant number of theoretical particles are identified with real, photographic, video, or radar meteors. However, the mean radiant of the shower is predicted on the southern sky (its declination is about −23°) where a relatively low number of real meteors has been detected and, therefore, recorded in the databases used. The shower of 161P has a compact radiant area and a relatively large geocentric velocity of ∼53 km s⁻¹. A significant fraction of particles assumed to be released from comet 126P also cross the Earth’s orbit and, eventually, could be observed as meteors. However, their radiant area is largely dispersed (declination of radiants spans from about +60° to the south pole) and, therefore, mixed with the sporadic meteor background. An identification with real meteors is practically impossible.     

Present-Day Methods of Processing of Visual Observations of Meteor Streams and Their Potentialities

The state of the art in the theory of processing of visual observations of meteor streams is considered. Of the three widely used methods of visual-observation processing, the method developed at the Engel'gardt Astronomical Observatory provides the highest accuracy of conversion to the hourly rate of meteors. For the first time, the dependence of the fine structures of the Geminid, Perseid, and Leonid streams on the minimum detected mass of meteor bodies is obtained from visual observations. A shift in the position of an activity maximum for smaller masses in the direction of lower solar longitudes is confirmed for the Geminids. For the Perseids, an activity maximum for meteor bodies with mass exceeding 0.01 g, sets in earlier than for smaller particles. In the Leonid swarm, no correlation was found between the node longitude of the mean swarm orbit and mass of meteor bodies.     

Method for the Determination of the Inclination Angle between the Comentary Tail and the Radius Vector

If the angle ϵ between the radius vector and the axis of the comet tail is known one can determine the velocity component of the solar wind pointing into the direction of the radius vector. This paper describes a geometrical method to determine the orientation of cometary tails (it will be represented by l ). If n is the normal vector of the cometary orbit, ϱ is the geocentrical position vector of the cometary nuclei and ϱ * is the geocentrical direction vector towards the direction of an indicated arbitary point of the cometary tail (and the equality | ϱ |; = |; ϱ |;* holds) then by means of the factor k where k = nϱ/nϱ* the vector l = k ϱ * – ϱ can be calculated. The factor k is indefinite when nq* = o that means when the Earth passes through the orbit of the comet. At that time ϵ must be determined in other ways for example by means of dynamical methods or ϵ must be interpolated between two neighbouring observed data which are sufficiently near in time. A continuous ϵ-time function must be assumed.     

Orbit of Comet C/1857 D1 (d'Arrest)

Comet C/ 1857 D1 (d'Arrest) is one of a large number of comets with parabolic orbits. Given that there are sufficient observations of the comet, 299 in right ascension and 279 in declination, it proves possible to calculate a better orbit. The calculations are based on a 12th order predictor‐corrector method. The comet's orbit is highly elliptical, e = 0.99982 and, from calculated mean errors, statistically different from a parabola. The comet will not return for at least 44000 years and thus represents no immediate NEO threat (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)