The potentially hazardous asteroid 2007CA19 as the parent of theη-Virginids meteoroid stream

Abstract

The orbit of the potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid 2007CA19 is classified as comet-like according to the Tisserand parameter with a value of T j = 2.8, therefore the object can be empirically considered as an extinct or dormant Jupiter-family comet. If 2007CA19 is really a former comet, it could have formed a meteoroid stream in the past in the period of its cometary activity. Investigation of the asteroid’s orbital evolution shows that 2007CA19 is a quadruple-crosser of the Earth’s orbit. Consequently, the meteoroid stream that is supposedly associated with the object can produce four meteor showers if, as expected, the perihelia arguments of the meteoroids are very distributed over the orbit. Theoretical radiants of the predicted showers were calculated using elements of the 2007CA19 osculating orbit that correspond to the positions of intersections with the Earth’s orbit. A search for the predicted night-time showers has shown that the Northern and Southern η-Virginids can be associated to 2007CA19. Using the MOID IAU database, we identify two other daytime showers that can be associated with this asteroid. Thus, we confirm that 2007CA19 has an associated meteoroid stream that produces four active meteor showers in the Earth’s atmosphere. This relationship supports the dynamical classification of the object and also points to the possibility of its cometary origin.