Sporadic Meteors Research Articles

First determination of the temperature of a lunar impact flash and its evolution

We report the first analysis of a flash produced by the impact of a meteoroid on the lunar surface and recorded both in the near-infrared and in the visible. Despite the fact that similar data have been recently published by other team during the refereeing process of our manuscript (Bonanos et al. 2018), our result still forms the first measurement of the temperature of a telescopic lunar impact flash (Madiedo and Ortiz 2016, 2018). The flash exhibited a peak magnitude of 5.1 $\pm$ 0.3 in the near-infrared I band and 7.3 $\pm$ 0.2 in the visible, and the total duration of the event in these bands was 0.20 s and 0.18 s, respectively. The origin of the meteoroid was investigated, and we inferred that the most likely scenario is that the impactor that belonged to the sporadic background. The analysis of this event has provided for the first time an estimation of the emission efficiency in the near-infrared {\eta}I for sporadic meteoroids impacting the Moon. We have determined that this efficiency is around 56% higher than in the visible band and we have found a maximum impact plume temperature of ~4000 K at the initial phase followed by temperatures of around 3200 K after the peak brightness. The size of the crater produced as a consequence of this impact is also calculated.

Real-Time Detection of Sporadic Meteors in the Intensified TV Imaging Systems.

The automatic observation of the night sky through wide-angle video systems with the aim of detecting meteor and fireballs is currently among routine astronomical observations. The observation is usually done in multi-station or network mode, so it is possible to estimate the direction and the speed of the body flight. The high velocity of the meteorite flying through the atmosphere determines the important features of the camera systems, namely the high frame rate. Thanks to high frame rates, such imaging systems produce a large amount of data, of which only a small fragment has scientific potential. This paper focuses on methods for the real-time detection of fast moving objects in the video sequences recorded by intensified TV systems with frame rates of about 60 frames per second. The goal of our effort is to remove all unnecessary data during the daytime and make free hard-drive capacity for the next observation. The processing of data from the MAIA (Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyzer) system is demonstrated in the paper.

A two-population sporadic meteoroid bulk density distribution and its implications for environment models

A two-population sporadic meteoroid bulk density distribution and its implications for environment models

Collision with meteoroids as one of the possible mechanisms for the splitting of cometary nuclei

Results are presented of a statistical analysis of dynamic parameters for 114 comets with split nuclei. A list of the objects includes actually split comets, fragments of cometary pairs, lost comets with designation D, and comets with large-scale atmospheric features. Some aspects of the hypothesis that splitting is caused by collisions of cometary nuclei with meteoroid swarms are investigated. To verify the hypothesis, an analysis is conducted of the positions of split comets’ orbits relative to 58 meteor streams from Cook’s catalogue. The calculations give the number (N) of orbital nodes of split comets relative to the plane of each swarm within a distance of 0.001, 0.005, 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 AU from each swarm. A special algorithm is proposed for determining the degree of redundancy of N by finding the expected value and dispersion for the number of the nodes. The comparison of N with the expected value, together with the consideration of the dispersion, reveals a redundancy of N in 29 cases. Therefore, collisions of comets with meteoroid swarms can be considered as one of the possible causes of comet splitting. A similar testing is conducted for the asteroid belt and Kuiper belt as potential sources of a vast number of sporadic meteoroids. Based on the results of the calculations, the former may be considered as the most effective region of splitting of periodic comets.

Results of the first continuous meteor head echo survey at polar latitudes

We present the first quasi continuous meteor head echo measurements obtained during a period of over two years using the Middle Atmosphere ALOMAR Radar System (MAARSY). The measurements yield information on the altitude, trajectory, vector velocity, radar cross section, deceleration and dynamical mass of every single event. The large statistical amount of nearly one million meteor head detections provide an excellent overview of the elevation, altitude, velocity and daily count rate distributions during different times of the year at polar latitudes. Only 40% of the meteors were detected within the full width half maximum of the specific sporadic meteor sources. Our observation of the sporadic meteors are compared to the observations with other radar systems and a meteor input function (MIF). The best way to compare different radar systems is by comparing the radar cross section (RCS), which is the main detection criterion for each system. In this study we aim to compare our observations with a MIF, which provides information only about the meteoroid mass. Thus, we are using a statistical approach for the elevation and velocity dependent visibility and a specific mass selection. The predicted absolute count rates from the MIF are in a good agreement with the observation when it is assumed that the radar system is only sensitive to meteoroids with masses higher than one microgram. The analysis of the dynamic masses seems to be consistent with this assumption since the count rate of events with smaller masses are low and decrease even more by using events with relatively small errors.

Detecting Forward-Scattered Radio Signals from Atmospheric Meteors Using Low-Cost Software Defined Radio

The forward scattering of radio signals from atmospheric meteors is a known technique used to detect meteor trails. This article outlines the project that used the forward-scattering technique to observe the 2015 August, September, and October meteor showers, as well as sporadic meteors, in the Southern Hemisphere. This project can easily be replicated in any part of the world and is a suitable, low-cost project designed for students who are interested in astronomy.

Long-Term Continuous Double Station Observation of Faint Meteor Showers.

Meteor detection and analysis is an essential topic in the field of astronomy. In this paper, a high-sensitivity and high-time-resolution imaging device for the detection of faint meteoric events is presented. The instrument is based on a fast CCD camera and an image intensifier. Two such instruments form a double-station observation network. The MAIA (Meteor Automatic Imager and Analyzer) system has been in continuous operation since 2013 and has successfully captured hundreds of meteors belonging to different meteor showers, as well as sporadic meteors. A data processing pipeline for the efficient processing and evaluation of the massive amount of video sequences is also introduced in this paper.

A reproducible method to determine the meteoroid mass index

Context. The determination of meteoroid mass indices is central to flux measurements and evolutionary studies of meteoroid populations. However, different authors use different approaches to fit observed data, making results difficult to reproduce and the resulting uncertainties difficult to justify. The real, physical, uncertainties are usually an order of magnitude higher than the reported values. Aims. We aim to develop a fully automated method that will measure meteoroid mass indices and associated uncertainty. We validate our method on large radar and optical datasets and compare results to obtain a best estimate of the true meteoroid mass index. Methods. Using MultiNest, a Bayesian inference tool that calculates the evidence and explores the parameter space, we search for the best fit of cumulative number vs. mass distributions in a four-dimensional space of variables ($a,b,X_1,X_2$). We explore biases in meteor echo distributions using optical meteor data as a calibration dataset to establish the systematic offset in measured mass index values. Results. Our best estimate for the average de-biased mass index for the sporadic meteoroid complex, as measured by radar appropriate to the mass range $10^{-3} > \mathrm{m} > 10^{-5}$ g, was $s=-2.10 \pm 0.08$. Optical data in the $10^{-1} > \mathrm{m} > 10^{-3}$ g range, with the shower meteors removed, produced $s=-2.08 \pm 0.08$. We find the mass index used by Grun et al. 1985 is substantially larger than we measure in the $10^{-4} < m < 10^{-1}$ g range.

Mesospheric observations by a forward scattering meteor radar basic setup

The durations of radio echo signals scattered from meteor ionized trails might not show a consistent increase corresponding to higher density trails due to the rapid removal of meteor ions at certain heights. Several studies have concluded the dominant role of the secondary ozone layer over diffusion in the removal of the meteor trails below 95 km through chemical oxidization of the meteor ions. Using a basic setup configuration of a forward scattering receiver, a trial to observe the mesospheric ozone concentration was performed by analyzing the meteor echo duration distributions. The forward scattered meteor echoes have the advantage of long durations that can enable observing the transition from the diffusion-removal regime to the chemistry-removal regime. The cumulative meteor echo duration distribution of two meteor showers, the Perseids and the Geminids, were analyzed over 10 years and the chemistry-removal regime in each shower was observed. The knee duration position at which a drop in the number of long overdense meteor echoes starts differed by around 30 seconds between the two showers. As the secondary ozone concentration is inversely related to the solar activity level, the Geminids 2011 corresponding to a high solar activity level showed a significant higher counts of long duration echoes compared to the Geminids 2006 during a low activity level, with the knee position shifted to longer duration. The knee positions obtained during the two distinct meteor showers and the two half solar cycle points are generally in agreement with the mesospheric ozone conditions expected in each case. However, continuous data record is required for the other meteor showers and the sporadic meteors at different heights to observe the mesospheric ozone concentration vertically and the full 11-years solar cycle.

Meteoritic influence on sodium and potassium abundance in the lunar exosphere measured by LADEE

AbstractThe Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) orbited the Moon for approximately 6 months, taking data with the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX), Ultraviolet‐Visible Spectrometer (UVS), and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS). Here we compare coincident LDEX measurements of meteoritic influx to exospheric column densities of Na and K derived by UVS. We report a strong correlation of exospheric potassium and meteoroid ejecta during the Geminids meteoroid shower, exhibiting a much stronger response than sodium. With the exception of the Geminids, we find a weak correlation between the sporadic meteoroid influx as measured by LDEX and exospheric density as measured by UVS.

Mesospheric temperature estimation from meteor decay times during Geminids meteor shower

AbstractMeteor radar observations at the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (67° 22′N, 26° 38′E, Finland) indicate that the mesospheric temperature derived from meteor decay times is systematically underestimated by 20–50 K during the Geminids meteor shower which has peak on 13 December. A very good coincidence of the minimum of routinely calculated temperature and maximum of meteor flux (the number of meteors detected per day) was observed regularly on that day in December 2008–2014. These observations are for a specific height‐lifetime distribution of the Geminids meteor trails and indicate a larger percentage of overdense trails compared to that for sporadic meteors. A consequence of this is that the routine estimates of mesospheric temperature during the Geminids are in fact underestimates. The observations do, however, indicate unusual properties (e.g., mass, speed, or chemical composition) of the Geminids meteoroids. Similar properties were found also for Quadrantids in January 2009–2015, which like the Geminids has as a parent body an asteroid, but not for other meteor showers.

Annual variation and synodic modulation of the sporadic meteoroid flux to the Moon

AbstractThe Lunar Dust Experiment on board NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer discovered a permanently present, asymmetric dust cloud engulfing the Moon, sustained by meteoroid bombardment. It is most dense at 5–8 lunar local time, with a peak density canted sunward. Here we present analysis on the variation of the cloud density during January to April 2014. We find the lunar dust cloud in the Moon's equatorial plane to be dominantly produced by impacts from three known sporadic meteoroid sources: apex, helion, and antihelion, listed in order of their contribution to ejecta production. The cloud density is also modulated by the Moon's orbital motion about the Earth, peaking during its waning gibbous phase. These results are complementary to ground‐based measurements and indicate the Moon can be used as a very sensitive large area dust detector to characterize the meteoroid environment at 1 AU.

Structure and sources of the sporadic meteor background from video observations

Abstract We investigate and discuss the structure of the sporadic meteor background population in the near-Earth space based on video meteor orbits from the SonotaCo database (SonotaCo 2009, WGN, 37, 55). The selection of the shower meteors was done by the Southworth–Hawkins streams-search criterion (Southworth &amp; Hawkins 1963, Smithson. Contr. Astrophys., 7, 261). Of a total of 117786 orbits, 69.34% were assigned to sporadic background meteors. Our analysis revealed all the known sporadic sources, such as the dominant apex source which is splitting into the northern and southern branch. Part of a denser ring structure about the apex source connecting the antihelion and north toroidal sources is also evident. We showed that the annual activity of the apex source is similar to the annual variation in activity of the whole sporadic background. The antihelion source exhibits a very broad maximum from July until January and the north toroidal source shows three maxima similar to the radar observations by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR). Potential parent bodies of the sporadic population were searched for by comparison of the distributions of the orbital elements of sporadic meteors, minor planets and comets.

THE SOUTHERN ARGENTINA AGILE METEOR RADAR ORBITAL SYSTEM (SAAMER-OS): AN INITIAL SPORADIC METEOROID ORBITAL SURVEY IN THE SOUTHERN SKY

We present an initial survey in the southern sky of the sporadic meteoroid orbital environment obtained with the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER) Orbital System (OS), in which over three-quarters of a million orbits of dust particles were determined from 2012 January through 2015 April. SAAMER-OS is located at the southernmost tip of Argentina and is currently the only operational radar with orbit determination capability providing continuous observations of the southern hemisphere. Distributions of the observed meteoroid speed, radiant, and heliocentric orbital parameters are presented, as well as those corrected by the observational biases associated with the SAAMER-OS operating parameters. The results are compared with those reported by three previous surveys performed with the Harvard Radio Meteor Project, the Advanced Meteor Orbit Radar, and the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar, and they are in agreement with these previous studies. Weighted distributions for meteoroids above the thresholds for meteor trail electron line density, meteoroid mass, and meteoroid kinetic energy are also considered. Finally, the minimum line density and kinetic energy weighting factors are found to be very suitable for meteoroid applications. The outcomes of this work show that, given SAAMERs location, the system is ideal for providing crucial data to continuously study the South Toroidal and South Apex sporadic meteoroid apparent sources.

Catalogue of representative meteor spectra

Aims. We present a library of low-resolution meteor spectra that includes sporadic meteors, members of minor meteor showers, and major meteor showers. These meteors are in the magnitude range from +2 to −3, corresponding to meteoroid sizes from 1 mm to 10 mm.Methods. Parallel double-station video observations allowed us to compute heliocentric orbits for all meteors. Most observations were performed during the periods of activity of major meteor showers in the years between 2006 and 2012. Spectra are classified according to relative intensities of the low-temperature emission lines of Mg, Na, and Fe.Results. Shower meteors were found to be of normal composition, except for Southern δ Aquariids and some members of the Geminid shower, neither of which have Na in the meteor spectra. Variations in Na content are typical for the Geminid shower. Three populations of Na-free mereoroids were identified. The first population are iron meteorites, which have an asteroidal-chondritic origin, but one meteoroid with low perihelion (0.11 AU) was found among the iron meteorites. The second population were Sun-approaching meteoroids in which sodium is depleted by thermal desorption. The third population were Na-free meteoroids of cometary origin. Long exposure to cosmic rays on the surface of comets in the Oort cloud and disintegration of this crust might be the origin of this population of meteoroids.

Sungrazing dust particles against the sporadic meteor background

From the results of the statistical study, the genetic relation between some meteors (from −5 m to +5 m ) of the sporadic background and the comets of the Kreutz, Marsden, and Kracht families has been revealed. The radiants of sporadic meteors are concentrated at the geocentric ecliptic latitudes 7°–10° northward and southward of the ecliptic. The radiants of the sungrazing meteoroids, that were detected on their heliocentric orbits “before” and “after” the perihelion passage, are concentrated in the elongation intervals of approximately 120°–165° and 20°–60° from the Sun, respectively. Each of the specified radiant regions, in its turn, breaks up into two groups. The group of radiants with elongations of about 30° and 155° from the Sun belongs to the Marsden and Kracht cometary families, while the group with 50° and 135°, to the Kreutz cometary family. In the distribution by perihelion distance, a sharp decrease of the number of observed dust particles with q < 0.08 AU was found. This corresponds to the heliocentric distances (20–30 R ⊙), where the production of microscopic dust due to sublimation of cometary nuclei, while approaching the Sun, terminates. The number of sporadic sungrazing meteoroids detected after their passage in the vicinity of the Sun is approximately 20 times smaller than the number of similar particles in the preperihelion part of the trajectory. This result is of special importance for studying the thermodesorption effect of meteoroids (i.e., the change in the content of chemical elements in meteoroids as a function of the perihelion distance).

The 2011 Draconids Meteor Light Curves and Meteoroid Fragmentation

Motivated by several predictions, a small outburst activity of the 2011 Draconid meteor shower has been observed from Gadanki (13.5\(^\circ\)N, 79.2\(^\circ\)E) MST radar. We detected head echoes and Range Spread Trail Echoes (RSTE) in multiple range gates along with beat pattern echoes. The observed echoes are consistent with meteoroid fragmentation and the light curve shapes examined, which show the evidence of fragmentation irregularities. The mean height of the Draconids is found to be 95 km, which is on an average few kilometers higher than the sporadic meteors of comparable Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). The results consist of a 740 sample statistical studies, lead to conclude that a quarter of the Draconid radar meteor events included in this study exhibit fragmentation, manifested as non-uniform light curves—implying that the form of meteoroid mass flux into the upper atmosphere goes well beyond simple ablation. A few events are suggestive of differential ablation.

Hyperbolic meteors: Interstellar or generated locally via the gravitational slingshot effect?

The arrival of solid particles from outside our Solar System would present us with an invaluable source of scientific information. Attempts to detect such interstellar particles among the meteors observed in Earth’s atmosphere have almost exclusively assumed that those particles moving above the Solar System’s escape speed – particles on orbits hyperbolic with respect to the Sun – were precisely the extrasolar particles being searched for. Here we show that hyperbolic particles can be generated entirely within the Solar System by gravitational scattering of interplanetary dust and meteoroids by the planets. These particles have necessarily short lifetimes as they quickly escape our star system; nonetheless some may arrive at Earth at speeds comparable to those expected of interstellar meteoroids. Some of these are associated with the encounter of planets with the debris streams of individual comets: Comet C/1995 O1 Hale–Bopp’s 1996 pre-perihelion encounter with Jupiter could have scattered particles that would have reached our planet with velocities of almost 1kms−1 above the hyperbolic velocity at Earth; however, such encounters are relatively rare. The rates of occurrence of hyperbolically-scattered sporadic meteors are also quite low. Only one of every ∼104 optical meteors observed at Earth is expected to be such a locally generated hyperbolic and its heliocentric velocity is typically only a hundred metres per second above the heliocentric escape velocity at Earth’s orbit. The majority of such gravitationally-scattered hyperbolics originate at Mercury, though Venus and Mars also contribute. Mercury and Venus are predicted to generate weak ‘hyperbolic meteor showers’: the restrictive geometry of scattering to our planet means that a radiant near the Sun from which hyperbolic meteors arrive at Earth should recur with the planet’s synodic period. However, though planetary scattering can produce meteoroids with speeds comparable to interstellar meteors and at fluxes near current upper limits for such events, the majority of this locally-generated component of hyperbolic meteoroids is just above the heliocentric escape velocity and should be easily distinguishable from true interstellar meteoroids.

DYNAMICAL MODEL FOR THE TOROIDAL SPORADIC METEORS

More than a decade of radar operations by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar have allowed both young and moderately old streams to be distinguished from the dispersed sporadic background component. The latter has been categorized according to broad radiant regions visible to Earth-based observers into three broad classes: the helion and anti-helion source, the north and south apex sources, and the north and south toroidal sources (and a related arc structure). The first two are populated mainly by dust released from Jupiter-family comets and new comets. Proper modeling of the toroidal sources has not to date been accomplished. Here, we develop a steady-state model for the toroidal source of the sporadic meteoroid complex, compare our model with the available radar measurements, and investigate a contribution of dust particles from our model to the whole population of sporadic meteoroids. We find that the long-term stable part of the toroidal particles is mainly fed by dust released by Halley type (long period) comets (HTCs). Our synthetic model reproduces most of the observed features of the toroidal particles, including the most troublesome low-eccentricity component, which is due to a combination of two effects: particles' ability to decouple from Jupiter and circularize by the Poynting-Robertson effect, and large collision probability for orbits similar to that of the Earth. Our calibrated model also allows us to estimate the total mass of the HTC-released dust in space and check the flux necessary to maintain the cloud in a steady state.

Determination of meteor-head echo trajectories using the interferometric capabilities of MAARSY

Abstract. During the flight of a meteoroid through the neutral atmosphere, the high kinetic energy is sufficient to ionize the meteoric constituents. Radar echoes coming from plasma irregularities surrounding the meteoroids are called meteor-head echoes, and can be detected by HPLA radar systems. Measurements of these echoes were conducted with MAARSY (Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System) in December 2010. The interferometric capabilities of the radar system permit the determination of the meteor trajectories within the radar beam with high accuracy. The received data are used to gain information about entry velocities, source radiants, observation heights and other meteoroid parameters. Our preliminary results indicate that the majority of meteors have masses between 10−10 and 10−3 kg and the mean masses of the sporadic meteors and Gemenids meteors are ∼10−8 kg.