Detection of the N2+ First Negative System in a Bright Leonid Fireball
Abstract
An ultraviolet-visible spectrum between 300 and 450 nm of a cometary meteoroid that originated from 55P/Tempel-Tuttle was investigated, and its new molecules, induced by atmospheric interaction, were discovered. The spectroscopy was carried out using an intensified high-definition TV camera with a slitless reflection grating during the 2001 Leonid meteor shower over Japan. A best-fit calculation mixed with atoms and molecules confirmed the first discovery of N2+ (B-X) bands in the UV meteor spectrum. The N2+ temperature was estimated to be 10,000 K with a low number density of 1.55 x 10^5 cm-3. Such unexpectedly strong ultraviolet emission, in particular for N2+(1,0) at 353.4 nm, is supposed to be formed through the wide dimensions of high-temperature regions caused by a large meteoroid. Spectroscopic observations of reentry capsules will provide us with good opportunities for confirming the discovered N2+.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.astro-ph/0412264,
title = {Detection of the N2+ First Negative System in a Bright Leonid Fireball},
author = {Shinsuke Abe and Noboru Ebizuka and Hajime Yano and Jun-ichi Watanabe and Jiri Borovicka},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:astro-ph/0412264},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
7 pages including 4 figures, Accepted on 2004 Nov. 30 for publication in ApJ Letters