Interaction of large Taurid meteoroids with the Earth's atmosphere
Institute of Astrophysics Tajik Academy of Sciences, 734042, Bukhoro 22, Dushanbe, Tajikistan and Isaac Newton Institute of Chile, Tajikistan Branch
Corresponding author: natalia@ac.tajik.net
Received:
16
October
2002
Accepted:
27
March
2003
Results of the detailed analysis of the luminosity and ablation of
bright Taurid, that break up into individual pieces in the Earth's
atmosphere due to the aerodynamic pressure are presented. The aim
of this analysis is to determine the composition and strength
of Taurids on the basis of both photographic observations with
small-meteor cameras and cameras with long focal length using the
method of instantaneous exposure (
s).
The study was carried out by
constructing the theoretical meteor light curve while
taking into account its fragmentation into two or more pieces and analyzing
the aerodynamic pressure on the meteoroid at the point of splitting.
The bulk densities of Taurids were obtained from an
analysis of the observed light curves and compared with the strength
categories obtained on the basis the data of the aerodynamic pressure
at the point of meteoroid splitting.
Comparing the resulting values with the known strength properties
of various materials lets us conclude that Taurids could be considered
structurally fragile bodies that fall into the a-strength
category, have a density of 2.3 to 2.8 g/cm3, and can be characterized
as carbonaceous chondrites.
We discovered a connection between observed low-frequency pulsations
of brightness of the splitting Taurids and the flares of individual pieces.
We suggested that the observed lateral displacement velocity
of the pieces could be caused by the explosive nature of the process of
Taurid meteoroid fragmentation.
Key words: meteors, meteoroids
© ESO, 2003