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Taurids

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused withBeta Taurids.
Southern Taurids (STA)
Parent body2P/Encke
Radiant
ConstellationTaurus
Right ascension03h35m[1]
Declination+14.4°[1]
Properties
Occurs duringSep 23 – Dec 8[1]
Date of peakNov 5
Velocity27.7[1]km/s
Zenithal hourly rate5
See also:List of meteor showers
Northern Taurids (NTA)
Parent body2004 TG10[2][3]
Radiant
ConstellationTaurus
Right ascension03h55m[1]
Declination+22.8°[1]
Properties
Occurs duringOct 13 – Dec 2[1]
Date of peakNov 12
Velocity29 km/s
Zenithal hourly rate5[1]
See also:List of meteor showers

TheTauridsare an annualmeteor shower,associated with thecomet Encke.The Taurids are actually two separate showers, with a Southern and a Northern component. The Southern Taurids originated from Comet Encke, while the Northern Taurids originated from the asteroid2004 TG10,possibly a large fragment of Encke due to its similar orbital parameters.[4][5]They are named after theirradiantpoint in the constellationTaurus,where they are seen to come from in the sky. Because of their occurrence in late October and early November, they are also calledHalloweenfireballs.Since 2P/Encke is such a short period comet, the meteors have the slowest impact speed of the annual well-known meteor showers.

Comet Encke and the Taurid complex are believed to be remnants of a disrupted 40-km-class comet from about 10,000 years ago,[6][7]breaking into several pieces and releasing material by normalcometary activity,mass loss viaYORPspin-up, or occasionally by close encounters with thetidal forceofEarthor other planets (Whipple,1940; Klačka, 1999). In total, thismeteoroid streamis the largest in the innerSolar System.Since the stream is rather spread out in space, Earth takes several weeks to pass through it, causing an extended period of meteor activity, compared with the much smaller periods of activity in other showers. The Taurids are also made up of weightier material,pebblesinstead ofdustgrains.[8]The daytime showers are active from May to July (Beta TauridsandZeta Perseids), while the nighttime showers are active from September to December.

Appearance

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Typically, Taurids appear at a rate of about 5 per hour, moving slowly across the sky at about 28kilometers per second(17 mi/s), or 100,800 km/h (65,000 mph).[8]If larger than a pebble, these meteors may becomebolidesas bright as the Moon and leave behind smoke trails.[8]

Due to the gravitationalperturbationsofplanets,especiallyJupiter,the Taurids have spread out over time, allowing separate segments labeled theNorthern Taurids(NTA) andSouthern Taurids(STA) to become observable. The Southern Taurids are active from about September 23 to December 8,[1]while the Northern Taurids are active from about October 13 to December 2. Essentially these are two cross sections of a single, broad, continuous stream in space. TheBeta TauridsandZeta Perseids,encountered by the Earth in June/July, are also cross sections of the stream that approach from the Earth's daytime side and, as such, cannot be observed visually in the way the (night-time) Northern and Southern Taurids of October/November can. AstronomersDuncan SteelandBill Napiereven suggest the Beta Taurids could be the cause of theTunguska eventof June 30, 1908.[9]

In 1962 and 1963, theMars 1probe recorded one micrometeorite strike every two minutes at altitudes ranging from 6,000 to 40,000 km (3,700 to 24,900 mi) from Earth's surface due to the Taurids meteor shower, and also recorded similar densities at distances from 20 to 40 million km (12 to 25 million mi) from Earth.[10][11]

The Taurid stream has a cycle of activity that peaks roughly every 2,500 to 3,000 years,[9]when the core of the stream passes nearer to Earth and produces more intense showers. In fact, because of the separate "branches" (night-time in one part of the year and daytime in another; and Northern/Southern in each case) there are two (possibly overlapping) peaks separated by a few centuries, every 3000 years. The next peak is expected around 3000AD.[9]

The Taurids also have more frequent peaks which may result from a heavier concentration of material in the stream, which only encounter Earth during some passes.

Fireballs

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Over Poland in 1995, all-sky cameras imaged anabsolute magnitude–17 Taurid bolide that was estimated to be 900 kg and perhaps a meter in diameter.[12]

In 1993, it was predicted that there would be a swarm of activity in 2005.[8]Around Halloween in 2005, many fireballs were witnessed that affected people's night vision.[8]Astronomers have taken to calling these the "Halloween fireballs."[8]During the Southern Taurid meteor shower in 2013, fireball sightings were spotted over southern California, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah.[13]A 2021 study byIgnacio Ferrínand Vincenzo Orofino catalogued 88 probable members of the swarm and showed that many such as the2212 Hephaistosgroup and the169P/NEATgroup exhibit cometary activity.[14][15]

Northern Taurid bolide photographed from Skibotn, Norway December 4, 2020 14:30 CET.[16]

On November 11, 2019, a Taurid fireball was seen overSt. Louis, MO.[17][18]

Meteor impact on the Moon

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A brief flash of light from alunarimpact eventwas recorded byNASAscientistRob Suggsand astronomer Bill Cooke on November 7, 2005, while testing a new 250 mm (10 in) telescope and video camera they had built to monitor the Moon for meteor strikes.[19]After consultingstar charts,they concluded that the impact body was likely part of the Taurid meteor shower. This may be the first photographic record of such a strike, which some witnesses claim to have visually observed on rare occasions.[20]

References

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  1. ^abcdefghi"Meteor Shower Calendar 2022-2023".American Meteor Society(AMS).Retrieved2023-09-09.
  2. ^Meteor showers and their parent cometspg 470byPeter Jenniskens
  3. ^Moore, Patrick; Rees, Robin (2011),Patrick Moore's Data Book of Astronomy(2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 275,ISBN978-0-521-89935-2
  4. ^Beth Dalbey (24 October 2017)."Taurids Meteor Shower Fireballs: Peak Dates, What To Expect".Retrieved11 November2017.
  5. ^Porubčan, V.; Kornoš, L.; Williams, I. P. (June 2006)."The Taurid complex meteor showers and asteroids".Contributions of the Astronomical Observatory Skalnaté Pleso.36(2): 103–117.arXiv:0905.1639.Bibcode:2006CoSka..36..103P.Retrieved29 July2017.
  6. ^Ye, Quanzhi;Jenniskens, Peter(2022). "Comets and meteor showers".arXiv:2209.10654[astro-ph.EP].
  7. ^Babadzhanov, P. B.; Williams, I. P.; Kokhirova, G. I. (2008)."Near-Earth Objects in the Taurid complex".Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.386(3): 1436–1442.Bibcode:2008MNRAS.386.1436B.doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2008.13096.x.
  8. ^abcdefDr. Tony Phillips (2005-11-03)."Earth is orbiting through a swarm of space debris that may be producing an unusual number of nighttime fireballs".NASA Science News.
  9. ^abcMeteor Shower Promises Seven Shooting Stars an Hour–National GeographicNews (November 7, 2003)
  10. ^Robbins, Stuart (2008).""Journey Through the Galaxy" Mars Program: Mars ~ 1960-1974 ".SJR Design.Retrieved2014-01-26.
  11. ^Mihos, Chris (11 January 2006)."Mars (1960-1974): Mars 1".Department of Astronomy, Case Western Reserve University.Archived fromthe originalon 13 October 2013.Retrieved2014-01-26.
  12. ^Meteor showers and their parent cometspg 467byPeter Jenniskens
  13. ^Sky News US Team (2013-11-07)."Meteor 'Fireball' Lights Up California Sky".news.sky.com.London, UK:BSkyB.Retrieved2013-11-07.
  14. ^Ferrín, Ignacio;Orofino, Vincenzo (November 2021). "Taurid complex smoking gun: Detection of cometary activity".Planetary and Space Science.207:105306.arXiv:2011.13078.Bibcode:2021P&SS..20705306F.doi:10.1016/J.PSS.2021.105306.ISSN0032-0633.S2CID227210565.WikidataQ108888402.Using the Secular Light Curve (SLC) formalism (Ferrín, 2010), we have catalogued 88 probable members of the Taurid Complex (TC).... This high percentage of active asteroids gives support to the hypothesis of a catastrophe that took place during the Upper Paleolithic (Clube and Napier, 1984).
  15. ^Romero, James (2021-09-30)."Swarm of Near-Earth Comets Linked to Recent Ice Giant Breakup".Discover.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-10-14.Retrieved2021-10-14.Together, their orbital analysis of bodies increased the complex's membership from half a dozen to 88.... The findings are welcomed by those who believe Comet Encke and the other products of this astronomical event are responsible for many of Earth's most violent and consequential impacts over the last 20,000 years.
  16. ^Norsk meteornettverk (2020-12-04)."Flott nordlig tauride sett i Troms og Finnmark".norskmeteornettverk.no.Retrieved2020-12-06.
  17. ^"Bing video".www.bing.com.Archived fromthe originalon November 12, 2019.
  18. ^Perlerin, Vincent (12 Nov 2019)."Fireball spotted over Missouri on Nov. 11th, 2019".American Meteor Society.Retrieved18 September2022.
  19. ^BBC News: Nasa team sees explosion on Moon(3 January 2006)
  20. ^"An Eyewitness Impact Debunked".Archived fromthe originalon 2001-04-22.

Further reading

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  • Klačka, Jozef (1999). "Meteor Streams of Comet Encke. Taurid Meteor Complex".Abstract
  • Whipple, F.L. (1940). "Photographic meteor studies. III. The Taurid shower."Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc.,83,711–745.
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