Abstract
Unique observation of a long-lasting meteor trail of about half an hour duration is described. The trail resulted from a burning meteor from the Leonid storm flux in the middle latitudes over eastern Siberia. We describe three-dimensional morphological characteristics of both the meteor and the long-lasting trail using data from wide-angle CCD cameras. Additionally, we present the meteor and the trail radiolocation characteristics obtained with a meteor radar and ionosonde. The background dynamics of the upper atmosphere at the height where the long-lasting trail developed were observed using data from the meteor radar and Fabry-Perot interferometer. The obtained results allowed the conclusion that the dynamics of a long-lasting trail are conditioned by the wind. However, during the first minutes of trail development, it is possible that a high-speed component is present, resulting from explosion of the meteor body in the atmosphere. A primitive spectral analysis of the long-lasting trail’s optical emissions and earlier studies point to hydroxyl molecules as a possible source of the glow. We believe the enhanced hydroxyl emission could be related to interaction of excited O(1D) oxygen atoms with meteor body water in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.
Highlights
In reference [7], the authors demonstrate the radio echoes received by SESCAT radar from both non-underdense and specular long-lasting meteor trails with Doppler shift split into two components
Development of the long-lasting meteor trail started at 22:24:30 UT
If the meteor substance moves as a sublimating dust containing water and sodium, this substance distributed in the upper atmosphere may provide both the rapidly disappearing, sporadic Es observed with the ionosonde, and the spectral composition of the long-lasting meteor trail glow as described above
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Subsequent study [6] was performed using significantly more observational data from SkiYMET (11 years of observations) It confirmed the key role of aerosols from meteoroids in the formation of long-lasting meteor echoes. In reference [7], the authors demonstrate the radio echoes received by SESCAT radar from both non-underdense and specular long-lasting meteor trails with Doppler shift split into two components. The authors concluded that in addition to sodium airglow, a significant component of the total intensity may include different bands of hydroxyl emissions, whereas molecular oxygen was unlikely as a probable reason for the meteor trail glow in the near intensityrange. Stereoscopic analysis was performed, and data obtained were compared with radio echoes using meteor radar and ionosonde.
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