Related papers: Hyperbolic meteors: interstellar or generated loca…
The primary ultrahigh energy particles which produce giant extensive air showers in the Earth's atmosphere present an intriguing mystery from two points of view: (1) How are these particles produced with such astounding energies, eight…
Dust particles observed in extrasolar planetary discs originate from undetectable km-sized bodies but this valuable information remains uninteresting if the theoretical link between grains and planetesimals is not properly known. We outline…
Meteoroids are pieces of asteroids and comets. They serve as unique probes to the physical and chemical properties of their parent bodies. We can derive some of these properties when meteoroids collide with the atmosphere of Earth and…
Context. Natural interstellar objects do not form isolated in deep space, but escape their natal planetary systems. Early removal from their home star systems via close flybys with still-forming planets could be the dominant ejection…
Observations of both star-forming regions and young, gas-free stellar associations indicate that most nearby molecular clouds form stars only over a short time span before dispersal; large-scale flows in the diffuse interstellar medium have…
Meteor and bolide phenomena caused by the atmospheric ablation of incoming meteoroids are predicted to occur at the planet Venus. Their systematic observation would allow to measure and compare the sub-mm to m meteoroid flux at different…
Meteoroids impacting the Earth on a daily basis are fragments of asteroids and comets. By studying fireballs produced during their disintegration in the atmosphere, we can gain information about their source regions and the properties of…
The earliest confirmed interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the abundance of interstellar objects of its size $\sim 100\;$ m. This was followed by the…
High levels of dust have been detected in the immediate vicinity of many stars, both young and old. A promising scenario to explain the presence of this short-lived dust is that these analogues to the Zodiacal cloud (or exozodis) are…
Most of the observed extrasolar planets are found on tight and often eccentric orbits. The high eccentricities are not easily explained by planet-formation models, which predict that planets should be on rather circular orbits. Here we…
Though widely observed to be emanating out from a variety of galactic and extra-galactic sources, the underlying physical mechanism behind the formation of the cosmic jets and outflows are wrapped around by the veil of mystery till date.…
For much of February 2023, the world was in panic as repeated balloon-like unidentified flying objects (UFOs) were reported over numerous countries by governments that often responded with military action. As a result, most of these craft…
The ESA meteoroid model predicts impacts of meteoroids in the mass range between $10^{-18}$ to $10^0$ g on spacecraft surfaces. It covers heliocentric distances from 0.3 to 20 AU. Measurements of the dust detector on board the highly…
The objectives of this project are to predict new meteor showers associated with as many as possible known periodic comets and to find a generic relationship of some already known showers with these comets. For a potential parent comet, we…
The absolute magnitude and perihelion distributions of long-period comets are derived, using data from the Lincoln Near-Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR) survey. The results are surprising in three ways. Firstly, the flux of comets through…
The first interstellar object, `Oumuamua, was discovered in the Solar System by Pan-STARRS in 2017, allowing for a calibration of the impact rate of interstellar meteors of its size $\sim 100\;$m. The discovery of CNEOS 2014-01-08 allowed…
Small asteroids intersecting Earth's orbit can deliver extraterrestrial rocks to the Earth, called meteorites. This process is accompanied by a luminous phenomena in the atmosphere, called bolides or fireballs. Observations of bolides…
The hydrogen emission from meteors is assumed to originate mainly from the meteoroid composition, making it a potential tracer of H$_{2}$O molecules and organic compounds. H$\alpha$ line was previously detected in individual fireballs, but…
Meteor physics can provide new clues about the size, structure, and density of cometary disintegration products, establishing a bridge between different research fields. From meteor magnitude data we have estimated the mass distribution of…
Phyllosilicates are hydrous minerals formed by interaction between rock and liquid water and are commonly found in meteorites originating in the asteroid belt. Collisions between asteroids contribute to zodiacal dust, which therefore…