METEOR ASTRONOMY
YK CHIA JUL 2010
Meteor The light phenomenon which results from the entry into the Earth's atmosphere of a solid particle from space. Lasting fractions of a sec. Meteor Shower - A number of meteors with approximately parallel trajectories. The meteors belonging to one shower appear to emanate from their radiant ( originate from same spot in the sky) .. If you plot the paths backward they intersect in a common region.
Radiant
One of the reason why my wrong facing ccd still can detect meteor members away from radiant
156 bolides were detected on a single (pointed) photographic plate of the all sky fish-eye photographic camera during the Leonid meteor shower in 1998 at Modra observatory. The exposure time was 4 hours.
1,000 frame per second high frame rate intensify video camera revealed a bow shock in meteor’s head. ~ 4000 degree F Space begins here 100km
Meteor emits light 70 -100 Km above us
25mm lens – Fireball image / sequences
Satellite trail
PAL video 25 frame per seconds or 4/100 – 0.04 sec
Simplify Model showing one revolution of Comet orbit ( comet not shown)
Meteor storm likely – earth encounters clumps of dust particle from comet
Normal meteor level – dust particles more spread out
When these dust particles entered the atmosphere – Streaks of lights resulted – Meteors.
Halley’s Comet Orbit
Halley’s Comet In Singapore Sky & Orionids 2009
Halley’s Comet in Scorpion. Image taken from Changi April 1986, 50mm tripod.
LEONIDS On Nov. 17, 1997, as comet Tempel-Tuttle was approaching the inner solar system, meteor watchers around the world were scanning the heavens for shooting stars. Small outburst ~ 1.57 sec
Courtesy of Masao Kinoshita
1999 atJordan
Leonids 2000
2009
2001 at Korea
2002 !!
2 Rich in Fireballs
Predicted ~ 200
Leonids actual Zenith Hourly Rate – you need to be at the right place, right time and right weather conditions
Leonids 2009 - Comet 55P/Tempel â&#x20AC;&#x201C;Tuttle Dust trails Expected 200 zhr but <half was seen
We are looking at old trail released from year 1466 and 1533!! 17 nov 18-22 UT
Leonids 2009
Solar system bombarded by many cometary ‘dust’ trails
Giving rise to annual ‘seasonal’ Meteor Shower - Eg Leonids (Nov), Geminids ( Dec)
Meteor Showers and parent bodies
Minor planet 2003 EH_1 Ancient comet C/1490 Y1
Majority from comets!!!
AMS ‘s - 2010 Major Meteor Showers (Class I) Shower
Activity Period
Max. Date
Radiant R.A.
Dec.
Vel.
r
km/s
Max.
Moon
ZHR
Quadrantids (QUA)
Jan 01-Jan 10
Jan 03
15:18
+49.5°
42.2
2.1
120
17
Lyrids (LYR)
Apr 16-Apr 25
Apr 22
18:08
+32.9°
48.4
2.1
18
8
Eta Aquarids (ETA)
Apr 28-May 21
May 07
22:36
-00.6°
66.9
2.4
60
22
Delta Aquarids (SDA)
Jul 21-Aug 23
Jul 30
22:42
-16.4°
42.0
3.2
20
17
Perseids (PER)
Jul 13-Aug 26
Aug 12
03:12
+57.6°
60.5
2.6
100
3
Orionids (ORI)
Oct 04-Nov 14
Oct 22
06:24
+15.5°
67.3
2.5
23
15
Leonids (LEO)
Nov 07-Nov 28
Nov 18
10:16
+21.6°
70.6
2.5
15
1
Geminids (GEM)
Dec 04-Dec 16
Dec 13
07:33
+32.2°
35.0
2.6
120
7
Ursids (URS)
Dec 17-Dec 23
Dec 22
14:30
+74.8°
32.6
3.0
10
16
Showers successfully detected in my video system over the years
Duration of a meteor
75% < ½ a second Meteor Duration 50 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5
duration in Sec
75 3.
45 3.
15 3.
85 2.
55 2.
25 2.
95 1.
65 1.
35 1.
05 1.
75 0.
45 0.
15
0
0.
% of total meteors
45
Meteoriod â&#x20AC;&#x201C; mass vs magnitude
Brightness
Campbell & PG Brown 2000
More meteors at Dawn vs Dusk More meteors were seen/detected at dawn than at dusk
Meteor via FM Scatter
Ionization trails reflect FM radio
1999 Leonids in Jordan
Desert outskirt of Jordan, 1999 Yagi Antenna on the left. Tuned to FM station (200+ miles away) in Turkey.
Meteor Shower strength vs Geographical Latitude Per and Gem the most reliable showers in Singapore
For us!
Southern Hemisphere
Lower HR
Equatorial Region â&#x20AC;&#x201C; loss out on Per level, Qua..
Outdoor Video Patrol setup from around the world
My set up (I) • Watec 902H ½ bw CCD
• 3.8mm f0.80 aspheric auto iris lens • Camera tripod, planks of wood, wing nuts, 3/4” thread • PCs with USB or PCI video grabber board • Sonotaco Ufocapture software • 12 volt DC/ adapter, RCA cables • Monitor for easy focusing and pointing
• Ability to jump out of bed with the slightest onset of rain to retrieve the system •KNOW YOUR SKY WELL
My set up (II)
USB video capture device PC running Sonotacoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s UFO Capture real time.
Meteor Shower Association : what meteor is that? 2010 29/7 30/7 30/7 31/07
23:11 cloudy but decided to try.. Detection system on 00:15 still cloudy … 06:20 browse through entries – faint meteors detected.. unlikely Perseids ( direction, brightness) 21:30 using ufoanalyser…. No Perseids but..
Meteor Example â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 25 mm
Summation frames showing the progress of the meteor using the new software
A few frames coadded in IRIS
Meteor Example â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 25 mm
Obtained from a video software that creates stacked images user specified interval. This software does dark field subtraction with cleaner images. But I need to look up the star chart to figure out the position of the start and end points â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tedious!! To find the video I need to rewind the tape using time as index.
Meteor Shower Members Singapore 6mm / Watec 902H – Gems Dec 15 ’07 / Perseids Aug 13 ’06 outside my window
The ever presence clouds …
Perseids Japan vs Singapore
Sonotaco Tokyo Japan Wat902H2Ultimate 6mm
ykChia Woodlands Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;pore Wat902h 6mm
Wide angle Meteor film Peleng 8 mm f3.5
Leonids 2001 Korea, Orion on left.. Polaris bright star near the centre of rotation
Catching Meteor Storm using automated multiple cameras Inspired by Robert Mac naught’s portable multiple camera system… in Jordan
Canon T70s 6 Camera – controlled by x1 command back – ASA800 36 x 6( ball heads& cables)
Catching Meteor Storm using wide angle video
2001 nov 18 600 + meteors!! Compare with the 20+ in 2009 singapore
Bohyunsan Optical Observatory, S Korea result of 3.8mm/Watec 902H
Other non meteor related images
‘Suit’Sat – space suit ( strapped with transmitter / antennae) tossed from ISS tumbling and flashing slowly at 5.4s. Object had reentered.
Iridium Satellite Flare from Main Mission Antennae
The flash timing is so accurately predicted you can calibrate your watch with it!
One of the x3 MMA responsible for the flare
?? Make a guess
My other non portable in door video set up for Comets etc
Lets watch some videos