Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets

by Peter Jenniskens

• ISBN13: 9780521853491
• ISBN10: 0521853494
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-09-25
• 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

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	x
Part I Introduction	1	(68)
How meteor showers were linked to comets	3	(9)
What is at the core of comets?	12	(16)
The formation of meteoroid streams	28	(11)
Meteors from meteoroid impacts on Earth	39	(19)
Comet and meteoroid orbits	58	(11)
Part II Parent bodies	69	(82)
Long-period comets	71	(17)
Halley-type comets	88	(20)
Jupiter-family comets	108	(22)
Fading comets of the inner Solar System	130	(10)
Asteroids as parent bodies of meteoroid streams	140	(11)
Part III Young streams from water vapor drag	151	(204)
Forecasting meteor storms from what planets do to dust trails	153	(8)
Meteor storm chasing	161	(11)
Meteor outbursts from long-period comets	172	(29)
Trapped: the Leonid Filament	201	(15)
The Leonid storms	216	(47)
The Ursids	263	(8)
The Perseids	271	(30)
Other Halley-type comets	301	(20)
Dust trails of Jupiter-family comets	321	(34)
Part IV Young streams from comet fragmentation	355	(118)
Quadrantids	357	(20)
Broken comets	377	(20)
Geminids	397	(26)
The sunskirting Arietids and δ-Aquariids	423	(50)
α-Capricornids and κ-Cygnids	438	(17)
The Taurid complex	455	(18)
Part V Old streams and sporadic meteoroids	473	(72)
Annual showers	475	(10)
Dispersion from gradually evolving parent body orbits	485	(11)
The ecliptic streams	496	(19)
Toroidal streams	515	(5)
Meteor showers from asteroids	520	(11)
Sporadic meteors and the zodiacal cloud	531	(14)
Part VI Impact and relevance of meteor showers	545	(40)
Impact!	547	(14)
Meteor showers on other planets	561	(14)
Meteors and the origin of life	575	(10)
Appendix	585	(182)
Tables
Historic showers	598	(14)
Showers from extinct comet nuclei	612	(5)
Showers from long-period comets	617	(2)
Leonid showers	619	(22)
Other Halley-type showers	641	(26)
Showers from Jupiter-family comets	667	(24)
Working list of annual (cometary) showers	691	(56)
Meteoroid stream formation ages	747	(1)
Working list of potential asteroidal streams	748	(4)
Meteor showers on other planets	752	(7)
Calendar of exceptional meteor showers (2005--2052)	759	(8)
Index	767	(23)
Units and constants	790