Rates, Flux Densities, and Spectral Indices of Meteor Radio Afterglows

Abstract

Using the narrowband all-sky imager mode of the LWA1 we have now detected 30 transients at 25.6 MHz, 1 at 34 MHz, and 93 at 38.0 MHz. While we have only optically confirmed that 37 of these events are radio afterglows from meteors, evidence suggests that most, if not all, are. Using the beam-forming mode of the LWA1 we have also captured the broadband spectra between 22.0 and 55.0 MHz of four events. We compare the smooth, spectral components of these four events and fit the frequency dependent flux density to a power law, and find that the spectral index is time variable, with the spectrum steepening over time for each meteor afterglow. Using these spectral indices along with the narrow band flux density measurements of the 123 events at 25.6 and 38 MHz, we predict the expected flux densities and rates for meteor afterglows potentially observable by other low frequency radio telescopes.

28 Pages and 7 Figures

References in corpus (2)

• Understanding Instrumental Stokes Leakage in Murchison Widefield Array Polarimetry
• Detection of Radio Emission from Fireballs

Cited by in corpus (8)

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• The Development of Non-coherent Passive Radar Techniques for Space Situational Awareness with the Murchison Widefield Array
• Testing the Radiation Pattern of Meteor Radio Afterglow
• Optimization and Commissioning of the EPIC Commensal Radio Transient Imager for the Long Wavelength Array
• Broadband Imaging to Study the Spectral Distribution of Meteor Radio Afterglows
• The Intensity of Diffuse Galactic Emission Reflected by Meteor Trails
• Spatially Resolved Observations of Meteor Radio Afterglows with the OVRO-LWA