Alpha Monocerotids
The Alpha Monocerotids is a meteor shower with the international acronym AMO active in November, not to be confused with the December Monocerotids, international acronym MON. The swarm is visible every year from 15 to 25 November; its peak occurs on 21 or 22 November. The speed of its meteors is 65 km/s. Normally it has a low Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR), but occasionally it produces remarkable meteor storms that last less than an hour: such outbursts were observed in 1925, 1935, 1985, and 1995. The 1925 and 1935 storms both reached levels passing 1,000 ZHR.[1] Peter Jenniskens predicted the 1995 return based on the hypothesis that these outbursts were caused by the dust trail of a long period comet occasionally wandering in Earth's path due to planetary perturbations. During observations in southern Spain, assisted by a team of observers of the Dutch Meteor Society, Jenniskens confirmed that the meteoroids were moving in a long-period comet orbit. The outburst of 1995 allowed researchers to determine the exact radiant of the swarm and the solar longitude of its peak as well as to confirm the brevity of Alpha Monocerotids outbursts as less than one hour. The parent body, probably a long-period comet, is unknown.[2]
In 2019, Jenniskens and Esko Lyytinen predicted an outburst starting around 04:50 UTC on November 22, 2019 (11:50 p.m. EST November 21).[1][3] The meteor outburst is expected to last for roughly 15 minutes, and activity is predicted to reach 400 meteors per hour, similar to the rate of the 1995 outburst.[4][5]
See also
References
- ^ a b "Intense Meteor Outburst Expected from the Alpha Monocerotids". Sky & Telescope. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ Jenniskens, P.; Betlem, H.; De Lignie, M.; Langbroek, M. (1997). "The Detection of a Dust Trail in the Orbit of an Earth-threatening Long-Period Comet". Astrophysical Journal. 479: 441. Bibcode:1997ApJ...479..441J. doi:10.1086/303853.
- ^ Lyytinen, Esko. "Likely Alpha Monocerotids (AMO#246) outburst on the morning of November 22, 2019". meteornews.net. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ Ashley Strickland (November 20, 2019). "Mysterious comet will cause a rare 'Unicorn' meteor storm this week". Fox 5 News. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
- ^ Caitlin Harvey (November 20, 2019). "'Unicorn meteor storm' to bring dazzling display on Thursday". KDRV. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
External links
- IAUC 6265: alpha MONOCEROTID METEORS 1995
- Alfa Monocerotids 1995: Meteor Storm over Calar Alto!
- Meteor Outbursts from long-period comet dust trails
- PECULIAR FEATURES OF a MONOCEROTID TV SPECTRA.
- On the dynamics of meteoroid streams
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