Meteor Showers

[Vulcan59]

FWIW an article about the Geminids published by Princeton University.

Mysteries surrounding the origin of this meteoroid stream have long fascinated scientists because, while most meteor showers are created when a comet emits a tail of ice and dust, the Geminids stem from an asteroid – a chunk of rock that normally does not produce a tail. Until recently, the Geminids had only been studied from Earth.

Now, Princeton researchers used observations from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event – such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion – that created the Geminids. The findings, which were published in the Planetary Science Journal on June 15, narrow down hypotheses about this asteroid’s composition and history that would explain its unconventional behavior.

Researchers demystify the unusual origin of the Geminids meteor shower

Princeton researchers used observations from NASA’s Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event – such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion – that created the Geminids meteoroid stream, which produces one of the most intense...

research.princeton.edu

 

[Vulcan59]

New meteor shower detected!

A new preprint by respected meteor forecaster Jeremie Vaubaillon and colleagues urges sky watchers to be alert for a new southern hemisphere meteor shower in Dec. 2023. "We predict the birth of a new shower on Dec. 12, 2023, between 8:00 and 12:30 UT," the authors write. "The location of the radiant is close to the star λ-Sculptoris star, so a possible name for the shower is λ-Sculptorids." The source of the display, if it occurs, would be Comet 46P/Wirtanen. [full story]

 

[Vulcan59]

Randall Carlson's June 2024 newsletter mentions this lesser known meteor streams.

Near Earth asteroids and the Virginid complex

In April 2024 a study was published in the journal Planetary and Space Science looking at one of the lesser-known meteor streams. In this study a team of astronomers and astrophysicists from the Institute of Astrophysics of the National Academy...

www.sott.net