SDC: Possible Source Found for Kappa Cygnid Meteor Shower

MeteorWayne · May 30, 2008

Dr. Peter Jenniskens, who I often refer to in my meteor posts, has an article on SDC about the discobery of a possible parent for one of my favorite summer showers (and apparently his as well) the Kappa Cygnids. It's a low rate shower, but produces slow moving often golden meteors, with occasional very bright flares. Last year was a particularly good one worldwide.http://www.space.com/searchforlife/080529-seti-kappa-cygnids.html By Peter Jenniskens Carl Sagan Center, SETI Institute posted: 29 May 2008 07:02 am ET <a name="beginstory"></a><div class="Section1">I have identified another minor planet that is likely responsible for one of our meteor showers. The cometary breakup that created the Kappa Cygnid meteor shower 4000 to 6000 years ago has a fragment remaining: minor planet 2008 ED69!Meteor showers, as they go, tend to become personal after a few unusual sightings. Especially when they contain exploding fireballs with multiple flares. No, I'm not talking about the phenomenal Leonid showers, but about a delightful treat of summer nights: the Kappa Cygnids.I recall a nice Kappa Cygnid fireball in 1993, the first summer after I had moved to California. I trained my binoculars at the position of the fading fireball, and saw the glow of a persistent train: a thin line that changed shape in the upper atmosphere winds like a twisting thread of silk on a damp day. That year saw many Kappa Cygnid fireballs — so many, in fact, that they outshone a widely reported outburst of Perseids. Observers at one site shouted so frequently that local canines became excited, and the event became known as "the night of the howling dogs."The Kappa Cygnids showed again in 2007. NASA and SETI Institute scientists videotaped several of these meteors during a test flight for an airborne observing campaign to study the predicted return of the rare Aurigid shower on September 1, 2007. Among the fast moving Perseids were several slow moving meteors that radiated from a point between the bright stars of Vega and Deneb. Some were as bright as the first quarter Moon and flashed in multiple colors.The crazy thing about this shower is its long duration, stretching through most of August. Some showers endure because Earth travels through the meteoroid stream at a grazing angle, but not so for the Kappa Cygnids. This stream is inclined at a steep 28-38 degrees. This also means that its parent body is not easily confused with that of the thousands of asteroids that have so far been discovered, most of which move in orbits close to the plane of the planets. So far, none matched the Kappa Cygnid orbit. We used to think that the long duration of the shower was due to an advanced age with the parent long gone. Instead, the periodic showers of fireballs suggested to me a younger age. For years now, I have been on the lookout for a remaining fragment of the parent body that created the Kappa Cygnid shower. I had found earlier that other well-known showers, such as the Quadrantids and Geminids, have such remaining fragments. No object was known for the Kappa Cygnids in 2006, when I published my book "Meteor Showers and their Parent Comets." In chapter 24, I write at length about this stream, assuming it is one of many that were created in the disruptive breakup of a mostly dormant comet in the recent past. The lack of a reasonable candidate parent body, however, left this chapter unfinished, and the Kappa Cygnid fragment became a very personal quest for me.On March 11, 2008, at 11:54 UT, the Catalina Sky Survey detected an intrinsically bright H = +16.7 magnitude minor planet, now named 2008 ED69. The discovery was quickly confirmed by the Mt. Lemmon Survey. It moved in an unusual orbit, passing close to the orbits of Jupiter and Venus in a 37-degree inclined orbit. Briefly, it was listed as a Potential Hazardous Object, but the latest orbit calculations keep it relatively far from Earth's orbit. That is good for us, because the object would cause a big impact if it was to hit Earth. Assuming, as with other dormant comets, that only 4 percent of the sunlight striking 2008 ED69 is reflected, it could measure 2.9 km in size. This is the same size as that of minor planet 2003 EH1, the remaining fragment in the Quadrantid stream. As soon as the discovery was announced, I calculated the theoretical radiant of the then very premature orbit and noticed that its meteors would radiate from Cygnus at the time of the Kappa Cygnid shower. Over several days, more observations were made and the orbit quickly became better known, much better than that of any other Kappa Cygnid. I traced the orbital evolution of 2008 ED69 back in time and found that it evolved with a large amplitude oscillation called a nutation cycle, lasting about 1800 years, in a manner typical for Kappa Cygnids. </div> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

SkylarkDuQuesne · Jun 3, 2008

MW, thanks for bringing Peter's article to a broader audience. Your comment on the SETI page is very true. It is one reason the SETI Institute spun off the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, so the astrobiologists and astronomers have a more recognizable identity. It draws a line between the search for intelligent life and the search for microbial life, which many believe will be found sooner than the intelligent kind. Who knows, maybe we will find intelligent microbial life (hopefully more benign than the Andromeda Strain). Unfortunately, SI's contract with SDC allows us only the one venue to promote our scientist's work.   <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

MeteorWayne · Jun 3, 2008

Replying to: <DIV CLASS='Discussion_PostQuote'>MW, thanks for bringing Peter's article to a broader audience. Your comment on the SETI page is very true. It is one reason the SETI Institute spun off the Carl Sagan Center for the Study of Life in the Universe, so the astrobiologists and astronomers have a more recognizable identity. It draws a line between the search for intelligent life and the search for microbial life, which many believe will be found sooner than the intelligent kind. Who knows, maybe we will find intelligent microbial life (hopefully more benign than the Andromeda Strain). Unfortunately, SI's contract with SDC allows us only the one venue to promote our scientist's work.   Posted by SkylarkDuQuesne</DIV> I see, thanx for that info.Actually, Peter brought it to our attention over at the meteorobs maillist, so while drooling on the floor, I quickly looked it up.Anything that talks about meteors gets my attention!Meteor Wayne, NAMN, NJAA, AMS, IMO, etc..... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id. I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function </div>

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SDC: Possible Source Found for Kappa Cygnid Meteor Shower

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