Related papers: Production of nitric oxide by a fragmenting bolide…
Shock waves and the associated phenomena generated by strongly ablating meteoroids with sizes greater than a few millimeters in the lower transitional flow regime of the Earth's atmosphere are the least explored aspect of meteor science. In…
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…
The physical composition and structure of meteoroids gives us insight into the formation processes of their parent asteroids and comets. The strength of and fundamental grain sizes in meteoroids tell us about the environment in which small…
Everyday thousands of meteoroids enter the Earth's atmosphere. The vast majority burn up harmlessly during the descent, but the larger objects survive, occasionally experiencing intense fragmentation events, and reach the ground. These…
There is an unceasing incoming flux of extraterrestrial materials reaching the Earth's atmosphere. Some of these objects produce luminous columns when they ablate during the hypersonic encounter with air molecules. A few fireballs occur…
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 internal structure and strength of small asteroids and large meteoroids is poorly known. Observation of bright fireballs in the Earth's atmosphere can prospect meteoroid structure by studying meteoroid fragmentation during the flight.…
Energetic electrons from the magnetosphere deposit their energy in the atmosphere and lead to production of nitric oxide (NO) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. We study the atmospheric NO response to a geomagnetic storm in April…
Geminids have the highest bulk density of all major meteor showers and their mechanical strength appears to depend on their mass. They are also the most active annual shower, enabling detailed studies of the dependence of their physical and…
Conventional meteoroid theory assumes that the dominant mode of ablation is by evaporation following intense heating during atmospheric flight. In this paper we consider the question of whether sputtering may provide an alternative…
Climate change is inducing a global atmospheric contraction above the tropopause (~10 km), leading to systematic decrease in neutral air density. The impact of climate change on small meteoroids has already been observed over the last two…
Numerical simulations of asteroid break-ups, including both the fragmentation of the parent body and the gravitational interactions between the fragments, have allowed us to reproduce successfully the main properties of asteroid families…
Fireballs (bolides) are high-energy luminous phenomena produced when meteoroids and small asteroids enter Earth's atmosphere at hypersonic speeds, often resulting in fragmentation or complete disintegration accompanied by significant energy…
Geminids are the most active annual meteor shower observed on Earth. Their parent is an active asteroid, (3200) Phaethon, which is a target of the planned DESTINY+ mission of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA). The exact physical…
It is known, from observational data recorded from airbursts, that small asteroids breakup at dynamical pressures lower than their mechanical strength. This means that actual theoretical models are inconsistent with observations. In this…
Infrasonic signatures of meteoroid fragmentation are frequently ambiguous: do multiple arrivals signify a complex breakup or merely the distorting effects of a layered atmosphere? Resolving this ambiguity is critical for accurate energy…
We include in statistical model calculations the facts that in the nuclear multifragmentation process the fragments are produced within a given volume and have a finite size. The corrections associated with these constraints affect the…
The evolution of exoplanetary atmospheres is strongly influenced by atmospheric escape, particularly for close-in planets. Fractionation during atmospheric loss can preferentially remove lighter elements such as hydrogen, while retaining…
Hydrodynamic shielding is a theoretically well-established but observationally elusive and experimentally difficult-to-replicate phenomenon with implications that extend far beyond meteor physics. Rare earthgrazing meteoroids with…
The extraordinary weather conditions available between February and March 2022 over Spain have allowed us to analyze the brightest fireballs recorded by the monitoring stations of the Spanish Meteor Network (SPMN). We study the atmospheric…