Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets

by Peter Jenniskens

• ISBN13: 9780521076357
• ISBN10: 0521076358
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-08-28
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets is a unique handbook for astronomers interested in observing meteor storms and outbursts. Spectacular displays of 'shooting stars' are created when the Earth's orbit crosses a meteoroid stream, as each meteoroid causes a bright light when it enters our atmosphere at high speed. Jenniskens, an active meteor storm chaser, explains how meteoroid streams originate from the decay of meteoroids, comets and asteroids, and how they cause meteor showers on Earth. He includes the findings of recent space missions to comets and asteroids, the risk of meteor impacts on Earth, and how meteor showers may have seeded the Earth with ingredients that made life possible. All known meteor showers are identified, accompanied by fascinating details on the most important showers and their parent comets. The book predicts when exceptional meteor showers will occur over the next 50 years, making it a valuable resource for both amateur and professional astronomers.

Table of Contents

Introduction

How meteor showers were linked to comets

What is at the core of comets

The formation of meteoroid streams

Meteors from meteoroid impacts in Earth

Comet and meteoroid orbits in space and time

Parent Bodies

Long period comets

Halley-type comets

Jupiter-family comets

Fading comets of the inner solar system

Asteroids

Young Streams from Whipple-type Ejection

What planets do to dust trails

Meteor storm chasing

Meteor outbursts from long-period comets

Trapped: the Leonid Filament

The Leonid storms

The Ursids

The Perseids

Other Halley-type comets

Dust trails of Jupiter-family comets

Young Streams from Comet Fragmentation

Broken comets

Quadrantids

Geminids

The sunskirting streams: Arietids and delta-Aquariids

Alpha-Capricornids and kappa-Cygnids

The Taurid complex

Old Streams and Sporadic Meteoroids

Annual showers

Dispersion from gradually evolving parent body orbits

The ecliptic streams

Toroidal streams

Meteor showers from asteroids

Sporadic meteors and the zodiacal cloud

Impact and Relevance of Meteor Showers

Impact

Meteor showers on other planets

Meteors and the origin of life

Appendices

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.