Observations of an Unexpected Meteor Shower Outburst at High Ecliptic Southern Latitude and Its Potential Origin
Abstract
A strong and unexpected meteor shower outburst was observed by the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar Orbital System (SAAMER-OS) at high southern ecliptic latitude within the South Toroidal region. The outburst, which was active throughout solar longitudes 351° and 352°, peaked at 09:30 UT on 2020 March 12, has a mean Sun-centered ecliptic radiant of λ - λ0 ∼ 307°5 and β ∼ -77°2 and a geocentric velocity of 30.7 km s-1. Using the $D^{\prime} $ parameter criterion, we find the corresponding orbital elements of the outburst to match well with both the β Tucanid and δ Mensid meteor showers, suggesting these are in fact the same shower. We also find a promising parent candidate in asteroid (248590) 2006 CS, a large (D ∼ 2 km) highly inclined 52° near-Earth object.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- May 2020
- DOI:
- 10.3847/2041-8213/ab9181
- Bibcode:
- 2020ApJ...895L..25J
- Keywords:
-
- Meteor showers;
- Meteors;
- Radar astronomy;
- 1034;
- 1041;
- 1329