The luminosity functions of the 1969 Perseid and Orionid meteor showers

Abstract

Visual counts of the 1969 Perseid and Orionid meteor showers are presented, comprising 288 Perseids and 56 Orionids. On the basis of the maximum-likelihood method of determining the power law luminosity function index, we derive s ≡ 1 + 2.5 log( r) = 1.56 ± 0.06 for the Perseids with m v = +1 to −5, and s ≈ 1.85 ± 0.1 for the Orionids with m v = +2 to −3. These values are somewhat lower than those found by other observers, but we confirm the approximate power law nature of the luminosity functions. Under the assumption that the masses of visual meteors are proportional to a power law function of the luminosities, this implies power law mass functions. If mass is directly proportional to luminosity, we have power law mass functions with the indices s given above.