Meteorite captured streaking across the sky in southern Scotland and northern England. Also reported to have been seen from Northern Ireland.
C/2022 R2 is a recently discovered comet with a preliminary orbit that passes within 0.05 AU of Earth’s orbit. D criterion assessment suggests that this comet has the potential to lead to an annual radiant in the heart of Lepus around November 22nd to 24th.
Introduction
Today (20/09/2022) the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams released a discovery notice inclusive of orbital elements for the newly discovered comet designated C/2022 R2 Atlas (Green & Nakano 2022). On the same day MPEC S87 was released containing astrometry from several sources (see MPC Staff, 2022) covering a roughly 5 day arc of this long period comet’s orbit.
Discussion
The current orbit is still somewhat preliminary but given no major changes going forwards this small Halley Type comet with a highly eccentric orbit will pass closest to Earth at roughly 1 Astronomical Unit (AU) on its way to a 0.628 AU perihelion on October 25th 2022 for the first time in around 220 years. The orbit is such that the comet’s ascending node lies within roughly 0.05 AU of the Earth’s orbit, and the comet was already at that point in during its September 14th 2022 discovery. The Earth itself will later pass the projection of this point around the 20th to 25th of November 2022. Given the current preliminary nature of the orbit all values are being expressed somewhat roughly.
A potential shower radiant’s particulars will be in the heart of Lepus near Right Ascension 84 degrees and Declination -20 degrees, the radiant should be active centred around Solar Longitude 240.2 degrees, or 19 hours on November 22nd 2022 UT, with the meteors being of medium speed with geocentric velocity of around 38 km/s.
However, as said, this comet is on a return to the inner Solar System for the first time in at least two centuries or so and although the comet did pass near Earth’s orbit before Earth itself it was still 1 AU from the Sun at that time and around five to six weeks prior to perihelion. In which case any particles ejected from the comet will not really have had enough time to cross the Earth orbit’s path. The same date in 2023 would give an extra year for such to occur.
Indeed, there are often predictions based on cometary orbits in the current era that do not come to pass and it may take many years for any meteoroids from this comet, if any at all, to hit the Earth’s atmosphere. On the other hand, the Southworth and Hawkins (1963) D criterion value for an Earth crossing shower is around 0.04 which in itself is promising given there being any actual meteoroids to be presented.
Examination of a collection of nearly two million meteor orbits of various derivation, both published and in the in the public domain, revealed only 7 candidates when seeded with the comet’s preliminary orbit for a period spanning from 2008 to 2021 inclusive, with none before then, some years providing none during that span, some years providing one, and, only 2021 providing 2 candidates. All of these could therefore be simply coincidental sporadics. Although given this is likely a small and indistinct comet, as it will never be much brighter than magnitude 15 at its best (barring any outbursts which would be occurring after the nodal passage thus therefore not likely to lead to any meteor activity before 2023 at the very earliest, with none guaranteed even then) it is possible that any meteoroids derivable from its last apparition are already long dispersed.
Meanwhile any potential 2022 activity at least has the rare decency to coincide with a virtually New Moon.
Conclusion
In the modern era potential meteor showers either freshly occurring due to or enhanced by comet passages can often be predicted. Whether they occur or not is another matter. C/2022 R2 has a preliminary 5 day arc orbit pointing to a potential of an annual meteor radiant with Solar Longitude 240.2 degrees emanating from the constellation of Lepus near 84 degrees Right Ascension and -20 degrees Declination, with a geocentric velocity of around 38 km/s.
Although the comet has already passed the point in its orbit closest to the Earth’s orbit both roughly five to six weeks prior to its perihelion and roughly nine to ten weeks before the Earth reaches that point in its own orbit, there is a chance for enhanced meteor activity in Lepus around November 22nd to 23rd (add one to each date for leap years) from 2022 onwards. Current meteor orbit datasets suggest that there is currently no real activity in the heart of this constellation at around that time.
Any activity would be likely to be picked up during current multistation meteor surveys as a matter of routine, given sufficient brightness.
Acknowledgement
This research has made use of data and/or services provided by the International Astronomical Union’s Minor Planet Center.
References
Green W. E., Nakano, S. (2022), “COMET C/2022 R2 (ATLAS)”.
http://www.cbat.eps.harvard.edu/iau/cbet/005100/CBET005171.txt
Jopek T. J. (1993). “Remarks on the meteor orbital similarity D-criterion”. Icarus, 106, 603–607.
MPC Staff (2022) “COMET C/2022 R2 (ATLAS)”.
Asteroid | Date (UT) | M.D. | VEL | DT |
2022 SW3 | 2022-Sep-23 | 7.2 LD | 8.7 | 38 |
2022 QK36 | 2022-Sep-23 | 18.7 LD | 3.7 | 22 |
2022 SP | 2022-Sep-24 | 9.2 LD | 9.8 | 13 |
2022 SK | 2022-Sep-24 | 18.1 LD | 16.6 | 50 |
2022 RM | 2022-Sep-25 | 14.2 LD | 10 | 31 |
2022 SK6 | 2022-Sep-25 | 2.7 LD | 3.9 | 11 |
2022 SL1 | 2022-Sep-25 | 9.3 LD | 8 | 22 |
2022 SU1 | 2022-Sep-25 | 4 LD | 14 | 16 |
2022 SE6 | 2022-Sep-26 | 4 LD | 4.2 | 24 |
2022 SR4 | 2022-Sep-26 | 7.9 LD | 11 | 24 |
2022 SY4 | 2022-Sep-26 | 2.4 LD | 11.8 | 10 |
2022 SY2 | 2022-Sep-27 | 18.8 LD | 12.8 | 46 |
2022 SZ2 | 2022-Sep-27 | 1.5 LD | 3.6 | 10 |
2022 ST3 | 2022-Sep-27 | 18 LD | 17.5 | 32 |
2022 SD4 | 2022-Sep-27 | 10.7 LD | 9.8 | 18 |
2022 SP4 | 2022-Sep-27 | 15.6 LD | 13.2 | 52 |
2022 SO4 | 2022-Sep-28 | 13.6 LD | 11.5 | 27 |
2022 SP1 | 2022-Sep-28 | 19 LD | 4.6 | 20 |
2022 SZ | 2022-Sep-28 | 13.7 LD | 7.4 | 18 |
2022 SR1 | 2022-Sep-29 | 12.1 LD | 6 | 25 |
2016 HF2 | 2022-Sep-29 | 19.2 LD | 5.6 | 21 |
Asteroid | Date (UT) | M.D. | VEL | DT |
2022 SE6 | 2022-Sep-26 | 4 LD | 4.2 | 25 |
2022 SR4 | 2022-Sep-26 | 7.9 LD | 11 | 24 |
2022 SY4 | 2022-Sep-26 | 2.4 LD | 11.8 | 10 |
2022 SY2 | 2022-Sep-27 | 18.8 LD | 12.8 | 46 |
2022 SZ2 | 2022-Sep-27 | 1.5 LD | 3.6 | 10 |
2022 ST3 | 2022-Sep-27 | 18 LD | 17.5 | 32 |
2022 SD4 | 2022-Sep-27 | 10.7 LD | 9.8 | 18 |
2022 SP4 | 2022-Sep-27 | 15.6 LD | 13.2 | 52 |
2022 SO4 | 2022-Sep-28 | 13.6 LD | 11.5 | 27 |
2022 SP1 | 2022-Sep-28 | 19 LD | 4.6 | 20 |
2022 ST7 | 2022-Sep-28 | 10.8 LD | 5.2 | 30 |
2022 SZ | 2022-Sep-28 | 13.7 LD | 7.4 | 18 |
2022 SR1 | 2022-Sep-29 | 12.1 LD | 6 | 25 |
2016 HF2 | 2022-Sep-29 | 19.2 LD | 5.6 | 21 |
2022 SJ9 | 2022-Sep-29 | 3.2 LD | 9.9 | 14 |
2022 SU7 | 2022-Sep-30 | 1.9 LD | 4.9 | 7 |
Just saw the following on a telegram channel that I've founded interesting and thought to share it here:
This has been out for a while. Saw it before, might have been this summer or before about how to get ready for a nuclear strikeJust saw the following on a telegram channel that I've founded interesting and thought to share it here:
Mass-Media News
⚡"There has been a nuclear strike. Don't ask me how or why, but the big trouble has arrived," New York City released a video with instructions for residents in case of a nuclear strike. The city authorities prepared a special video instruction on what to do in case of a nuclear strike...t.me
A new stunning image shows that two days after NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft slammed into the asteroid Dimorphos, the space rock had grown a tail of glowing debris extending thousands of miles.
The comet-like tail is made of dust and debris was blasted from the surface of Dimorphos, part of a double asteroid system, by the intentional impact of DART, the first mission designed to test whether such a collision could divert a hypothetical asteroid threatening to hit Earth. Dimorphos' new tail was imaged by astronomers Teddy Kareta from the Lowell Observatory and Matthew Knight from the U.S. Naval Academy using the 4.1-meter Southern Astrophysical Research (SOAR) Telescope, at the National Science Foundation-funded NOIRLab's Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile.
"It is amazing how clearly we were able to capture the structure and extent of the aftermath in the days following the impact," Kareta said in a statement (opens in new tab).
Related: Here's the last thing NASA's DART spacecraft saw before it crashed
Observing the ejected material could allow scientists to better determine the nature of the surface of Dimorphos by revealing just how much material the collision with DART ejected, the speed at which the material was launched and the size of the ejected particles. This knowledge could ultimately help space agencies like NASA protect Earth from asteroid impacts because a better understanding of asteroid structure and composition helps scientists model how best to divert them.
The material in the dust trail was initially ejected on Sept. 26 when DART hit Dimorphos, forming a cloud around the asteroid. The tail-like structure formed when radiation pressure from the sun pushed the debris away from the body of the asteroid, just as happens with the tails of comets as they approach the sun from the distant reaches of the solar system.
The SOAR image shows Dimorphos' new feature extending from the center of the image to the right-hand edge of the image. Using Dimorphos' distance from Earth at the time the image was captured, the astronomers estimated the tail was around 6,200 miles (10,000 kilometers) long. (Before the impact, scientists estimated that Dimorphos itself was about 525 feet, or 160 meters, wide.)
SOAR will continue to observe the aftermath of the DART impact, collecting data that will help researchers assess how successful this attempt to modify the orbit of an asteroid has been. SOAR is a key member of the Astronomical Event Observatory Network (AEON) of telescopes, which is dedicated to nimbly following up on reports of new astronomical phenomena.
"Now begins the next phase of work for the DART team as they analyze their data and observations by our team and other observers around the world who shared in studying this exciting event," Knight said. "We plan to use SOAR to monitor the ejecta in the coming weeks and months. The combination of SOAR and AEON is just what we need for efficient follow-up of evolving events like this one."
Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
We report ongoing cometary activities of the hyperbolic asteroid A/2021 X2 (hereafter X2) from our optical imaging in August. A weak coma and a faint diffuse tail were observed on the 9th, 20th, 21st, and 24th of August when the heliocentric distance of X2 varied between 3.01 and 3.03 au. The FWHM of X2 is around 2.5" which is twice the mean seeing during the observation. Compared with the syndyne-synchrone dust curve, we suggest the dust ejecta was released more than 200 days ago. X2 appears highly variable due to time-varying coma obscuration. It is on a hyperbolic orbit (e>1) and has recently finished the perihelion passage (q = 2.99 au) in early July. These observations were performed with the Lulin 1-m telescope at Lulin Observatory (MPC code: D35), operated by the Institute of Astronomy, NCU, Taiwan. Observing images, please note that the pixel scale of the images are ~ 0.69".
Asteroid | Date (UTC) | M.D. | VEL | DT |
2018 VG | 2022-Oct-05 | 18.5 LD | 6.7 | 12 |
2022 SJ28 | 2022-Oct-05 | 14.9 LD | 9.2 | 19 |
2022 TD | 2022-Oct-06 | 1 LD | 10.1 | 10 |
2021 TJ10 | 2022-Oct-06 | 19.6 LD | 8.1 | 6 |
2013 TJ6 | 2022-Oct-07 | 11.7 LD | 14.4 | 32 |
2022 TV | 2022-Oct-08 | 6.3 LD | 18.6 | 17 |
2022 TR | 2022-Oct-08 | 4 LD | 11.6 | 11 |
2022 SU21 | 2022-Oct-08 | 3.2 LD | 19.9 | 41 |
2022 SB29 | 2022-Oct-09 | 4.6 LD | 7.6 | 15 |
2022 SV11 | 2022-Oct-09 | 17.1 LD | 14.4 | 35 |