Spectral, photometric, and dynamic analysis of eight Draconid meteors

Abstract

We analyzed spectra, trajectories, orbits, light curves, and decelerations of eight Draconid meteors observed from Northern Italy on October 8, 2011. Meteor morphologies of two of the meteors are also presented, one of them obtained with a high resolution camera. Meteor radiants agree with theoretical predictions, with a hint that some meteors may belong to the pre-1900 meteoroid trails. The spectra confirm that Draconids have normal chondritic composition of main elements (Mg, Fe, Na). There are, nevertheless, differences in the temporal evolution of Na line emission. The differences are correlated with the shapes of the light curves and the deceleration rates. Our data confirm that Draconids are porous conglomerates of grains, nevertheless, significant differences in the atmospheric fragmentation of cm-sized Draconids were found. Various textures with various resistance to fragmentation exist among Draconid meteoroids and even within single meteoroids.

Accepted in Earth, Moon, and Planets; 17 pages, 11 figures

References in corpus (2)

• The 2011 October Draconids Outburst. II. Meteoroid Chemical Abundances from Fireball Spectroscopy
• The 2011 October Draconids outburst. I. Orbital elements, meteoroid fluxes and 21P/Giacobini-Zinner delivered mass to Earth

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