Comet Halley meteor stream: a new model.
Abstract
A shell model of the Comet Halley meteor stream is proposed which can explain structural features (the width of the Orionid and Eta-Aquarid showers, activity levels, activity variations, and shifts in activity maxima) that could not be explained by the toroidal model. The preseent study is based on the recently determined history of the comet orbit back to 1404 BC. Calculations show that the shell is confined to a strip which subtends an angle of 25 deg at the major axis. Particles ejected from the comet will be dispersed over a segment of the shell, which thickens to form a belt. Data on the showers suggest a superposition of several belts, corresponding to the stable zones of increased shower activity. The cross section of the belt at the earth's orbit is 0.44 AU perpendicular to the orbital plate and about 0.05 AU in the plane.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- December 1983
- DOI:
- 10.1093/mnras/205.4.931
- Bibcode:
- 1983MNRAS.205..931M
- Keywords:
-
- Astronomical Models;
- Halley'S Comet;
- Meteoroid Showers;
- Aquarid Meteoroids;
- Evolution (Development);
- Orionid Meteoroids;
- Solar Orbits;
- Astronomy;
- Aquarids:Periodic Comets;
- Comet 1910 II Halley;
- Orbits:Periodic Comets;
- Orionids:Periodic Comets;
- Periodic Comets:Aquarids;
- Periodic Comets:Orbits;
- Periodic Comets:Orionids