Altitudinal Distribution Of 20 Persistent Meteor Trains: Estimates Derived From Metro Campaign
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Authors: | Masa-Yuki Yamamoto Masayuki Toda Yoshihiro Higa Kouji Maeda Jun-Ichi Watanabe |
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Institution: | (1) Kochi University of Technology, 185 Miyanokuchi, Tosayamada, Kochi 782-8502, Japan;(2) Nippon Meteor Society, 1-16-13 Izumi, Suginami, Tokyo 168-0063, Japan;(3) Miyazaki University, 1-1 Gakuen-kihanadai-nishi, Miyazaki 889-2192, Japan;(4) National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, National Institute of Natural Sciences, 2-21-2 Osawa, Mitaka, Tokyo 181-8588, Japan |
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Abstract: | Observations of persistent meteor trains are limited because of the extreme rarity of the phenomenon. The altitudinal distribution
of persistent trains has previously been investigated via limited instances of simultaneous observation from multiple sites,
however, a statistical study of persistent trains has yet to be realized. The meteor train observation (METRO) campaign was
established in Japan in 1998 to obtain images of persistent trains. From 1998 to 2002, the METRO campaign, involving Japanese
amateur collaborators, captured more than 400 image sequences of persistent trains, resulting in 53 simultaneous multi-site
observations. Several Japanese observers were involved in imaging persistent trains prior to the METRO campaign, producing
6 simultaneous observations over the period 1988–1997. In this paper, simultaneous multi-site observations of high spatial
and temporal resolution are used to determine, via triangulation, the altitudinal distribution of persistent trains for 20
events. The altitudinal range of 2 Orionid trains was slightly higher than that of 18 Leonid trains. The Leonid train data
reveal no clear dependence of upper and lower altitude on the brightness of the associated fireball. The upper altitude of
the 18 observed Leonid trains were almost invariant with respect to local time (LT) of observation, however, a possible dependence
of lower altitude on LT of observation was also found, indicating a near-constant penetrating path-length in the upper atmosphere
for each train. The average upper altitude of persistent Leonid trains was 99.8 km, while the average central altitude was
93.0 km. These trends are probably determined by atmospheric conditions such as the abundance of O and O3. |
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Keywords: | Imaging Leonid METRO campaign persistent meteor train triangulation |
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