Results from 2002 Leonid meteor storm TV observations in Kyiv

Abstract

Results are presented from double-station TV observations of the 2002 Leonids meteor storm as seen from Kyiv (Ukraine). The observations were carried out from two observational stations 54 km apart. The total observation time was five hours: from 23:30 till 4:30 UT on 18/19 November, 2002. The total number of two-station meteors was 38, 28 of which allowed for precise processing. The trajectories of the meteors in Earth’s atmosphere, their radiant coordinates, heliocentric orbital elements, etc., were calculated. The highest beginning height observed was 151.53 ± 2.79 km, and distributions of beginning and end heights are presented. Leonids registered during the onset of the storm between 3:00 and 4:00 UT had geocentric radiants (J2000.0) concentrated into a compact group with mean RA = 154°.43 ± 0°.55 and Decl. = 21°.91 ± 0°.58. The corresponding mean inclination and argument of perihelion of the orbit are i = 162°.62 ± 0°.61 and ω = 175°.13 ± 1°.37, respectively. The initial masses of meteoroids were calculated from photometry, from which a mass distribution index s = 1.43 ± 0.02 was derived. We determined that the number of meteors brighter than 4 m (1.54 × 10 −4 g) that crossed a horizontal circular area of radius 100 km at an altitude of 100 km, for an assumed radiant in zenith, changed during the observations from 350/h to 1400/h. The corresponding spatial density of Leonid stream particles was 4.3 × 10 −8–1.7 × 10 −7 km −3.