J/A+A/635/A153      EMCCD observations of the 2018 Draconids       (Vida+, 2020)

A new method for measuring the meteor mass index: application to the 2018 Draconid meteor shower outburst. Vida D., Campbell-Brown M., Brown P.G., Egal A., Mazur M.J. <Astron. Astrophys. 635, A153 (2020)> =2020A&A...635A.153V 2020A&A...635A.153V (SIMBAD/NED BibCode)
ADC_Keywords: Solar system ; Comets ; Photometry, CCD ; Positional data Keywords: meteorites, meteors, meteoroids - comets: individual: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner Abstract: Several authors predicted an outburst of the Draconid meteor shower in 2018, but with an uncertain level of activity. Optical meteor observations were used to derive the population and mass indices, flux, and radiant positions of Draconid meteors. We performed 90 minutes of multi-station observations after the predicted peak of activity were performed using highly sensitive Electron Multiplying Charge Coupled Device (EMCCD) cameras. The data calibration is discussed in detail. A novel maximum likelihood estimation method of computing the population and mass index with robust error estimation was developed. We apply the method to observed Draconids and use the values to derive the flux. Meteor trajectories are computed and compared to predicted radiant positions from meteoroid ejection models. We find a mass index of 1.74±0.18 in the 30 min bin after the predicted peak, and 2.32±0.27 in the subsequent 60 min. The location and the dispersion of the radiant are a good match to modeled values, but there is an offset of 0.4° in solar longitude. Description: Trajectory solutions of the Draconids used in the work are given, including the original astrometric measurements. The data format is explained in the data files themselves. See paper Vida et al. (2020MNRAS.491.2688V 2020MNRAS.491.2688V) for the details of the trajectory estimation method used in this work. File Summary: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FileName Lrecl Records Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ReadMe 80 . This file list.dat 74 68 List of trajectory solutions files/* . 68 Individual trajectory solutions files -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Byte-by-byte Description of file: list.dat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bytes Format Units Label Explanations -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1- 29 A29 --- FileName Name of the file on subdirectory files 31- 74 A44 --- Title Title of the file -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgements: Denis Vida, dvida(at)uwo.ca References: Vida et al., 2020MNRAS.491.2688V 2020MNRAS.491.2688V, Estimating trajectories of meteors: an observational Monte Carlo approach. I. Theory.
(End) Patricia Vannier [CDS] 10-Feb-2020
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