DETERMINATION OF THE ELEMENTS OF METEOR PATHS FROM RADAR OBSERVATIONS

1949 ◽  
Vol 27a (3) ◽  
pp. 53-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. R. McKinley ◽  
Peter M. Millman
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Path Length ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Radar Observations ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Single Station

Methods of determining meteor velocities from single-station observations are discussed. Where three-station observations are available both the velocity and the elements of the meteor's path through the atmosphere can be computed in favorable cases. These methods are applied to a selected daytime meteor, recorded by the three radar stations at 17h 59m 48s E.S.T., Aug. 4, 1948. The following elements of the meteor's path have been obtained from the radar data:—Apparent geocentric velocity    35.0 ± 0.4 km. per sec.True bearing of apparent radiant    074° ± 2°Elevation of apparent radiant    2° ± 2°Total radar path length    270 km.Height above sea level    108 − 104 km.These values lead to an orbit similar to one of the short-period comets, with these elements:—Semi-major axis    a    2.66Eccentricity    e    0.87Angle node to perihelion    ω    294°.9Longitude of node        132°.4Inclination    i    33°.6Period    P    4.33 years

scholarly journals Correspondances Entre Une Theorie Generale Planetaire En Variables Elliptiques Et La Theorie Classique De Le Verrier

1978 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 15-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Duriez
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Classical Theory ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
First Order ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Masses ◽  
Secular Terms

AbstractIn order to improve the determination of the mixed terms in classical theories, we show how these terms may be derived from a general theory developed with the same variables (of a keplerian nature). We find that the general theory of the first order in the masses already allows us to develop the mixed terms which appear at the second order in the classical theory. We also show that a part of the constant perturbation of the semi-major axis introduced in the classical theory is present in the general theory as very long-period terms; by developing these terms in powers of time, they would be equivalent to the appearance of very small secular terms (in t, t2, …) in the perturbation of the semi-major axes from the second order in the masses. The short period terms of the classical theory are found the same in the general theory, but without the numerical substitution of the values of the variables.

scholarly journals 22. The relation between orbits and physical characteristics of meteors

1968 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 217-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ľ. Kresák
Keyword(s):  
Major Axis ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Physical Characteristics ◽  
The Other ◽  
Asteroid Belt ◽  
Angle Of Incidence ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Broad Variety ◽  
Bona Fide

The relation of physical characteristics of meteors to their orbital elements is investigated using Harvard Super-Schmidt data. A set of characteristic indices is defined, allowing for the effects of geocentric velocity, angle of incidence, magnitude and mass, wherever a correction appears appropriate according to the correlations found by Jacchia et al. (1967). The medians for representative meteor samples are plotted in the semi-major axis/eccentricity diagram and the distribution of each parameter is derived. Although the differences are moderate compared to the measuring errors, six regions of different nature can be distinguished.The existence of two families of asteroidal meteors is indicated, one of them brought to crossing with the Earth's orbit by drag effects and the other by collision effects in the main asteroid belt. These meteors are characterized by low and uniform beginning heights, high fragmentation, low ablation, low deceleration, and bright wakes. A direct counterpart to this is represented by meteors moving in short-period orbits of higher eccentricity and shorter perihelion distance, which bear resemblance to the long-period and retrograde cometary meteors. Meteors with perihelion distances of less than 0·15 AU tend to resemble the bona fide asteroidal meteors by a progressive increase of fragmentation and decrease of reduced beginning heights and decelerations as the perihelion approaches the Sun. This is attributed to the selective destruction effects of solar radiation.With the exception of the Draconids, the mean characteristics of meteor showers agree well with those of sporadic meteors moving in similar orbits. It is suggested that the Draconid stream includes a broad variety of meteoric material and that the two peculiar Super-Schmidt meteors on record represent only the less resistive, short-lived component which has already been eliminated from the other showers.

Determination of upper-atmosphere air density and scale height from satellite observations

1959 ◽  
Vol 252 (1268) ◽  
pp. 16-27 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Orbit ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Scale Height ◽  
Rate Of Change ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Air Density ◽  
Standard Deviations

A solution is obtained for the rate of change of semi-major axis and perigee distance of a satellite orbit with time due to the resistance of the atmosphere. The logarithm of air density is assumed to vary quadratically with height, and the oblateness of the atmosphere is taken into account. The calculation of perigee air density in terms of the rate of change of satellite period is dealt with; and the method is applied to data at present available on six different satellites. The variation of air density with height is obtained as ln ρ = -28·59(±0·15) - ( h - 200 )/46(±5) + 0·028(±0·013) ( h - 200) 2 /(46) 2 for h in the range of approximately 170 to 700 km, where ρ is in grams/cm 3 , h is in kilometres and standard deviations are given in brackets.

The system of short period meteor streams

1974 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 269-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Lindblad
Keyword(s):  
Major Axis ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Orbital Energy ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Meteor Stream ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Meteor Streams ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Orbital Periods

AbstractThe orbital characteristics of precisely reduced photographic meteors were studied. Most photographic meteors move in short period, direct orbits with orbital periods inbetween those of Jupiter and Mars. Practically no meteors have (Orbital periods coincident with those of the planets Jupiter, Mars and Earth.A search among all precisely reduced, photographic meteors revealed a number of new – or previously not well studied – meteor streams. For 18 short period meteor streams the scatter in the orbital elements 1/a,πand Ω was studied. An almost linear relation was found between the mean orbital energy of a meteor stream (– 1/a) and the standard deviation σ(1/a), indicating a progressive increase in the orbital scatter with decreasing mean distance to the sun. An index of mean meteoroid density was computed for 11 of the short period streams. The mean density increases with decreasing semi-major axis.The results are interpreted as indicating that the short period meteor streams are initially formed in orbits with periods slightly shorter than Jupiter’s. As the streams gradually drift inwards towards the sun under the influence of various drag forces the individual stream members spread out and only the high density, resistant meteors still remain, or can be recognized, as stream members.

scholarly journals Orbital Elements of MACHO Project Eclipsing Binary Stars

2005 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 467-467
Author(s):  
Charles Alcock
Keyword(s):  
Binary Stars ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Orbital Elements ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Eclipsing Binary ◽  
Eclipsing Binary Stars ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Velocity Information

Large scale photometric surveys can deliver very large numbers of eclipsing binary stars. It is not presently possible to obtain radial velocity information for more than a small fraction of these. We have made some progress in the estimation of the statistical distributions of orbital elements (including semi-major axis and eccentricity) in the MACHO Project catalog of eclipsing binary stars. We see the well-known tendency to circularization in short period orbits and also detect late tidal circularization during the giant phase. The extension of these techniques to newer surveys will also be discussed.

Determination of upper-atmosphere air-density profile from satellite observations

1959 ◽  
Vol 252 (1268) ◽  
pp. 28-34 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Density Profile ◽  
Satellite Orbit ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Scale Height ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Relative Variation ◽  
Air Density ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Point Data

The theory previously developed for the changes in the perigee distance and semi-major axis of a satellite orbit due to air drag is extended to enable the air-density profile (i. e. its relative variation with height) to be derived from the motion of the orbit’s perigee. The solution is first obtained in terms of the change in perigee distance and then in terms of the change in the radius of the earth at the sub-perigee point. Data are analyzed by the two methods, leading to 39 (± 9) and 36 (± 15) km for the scale height in the 180 and 220 km altitude regions.

scholarly journals Analysis of lightning outliers in the EUCLID network

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4561-4572 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dieter R. Poelman ◽  
Wolfgang Schulz ◽  
Rudolf Kaltenboeck ◽  
Laurent Delobbe
Keyword(s):  
Lightning Discharge ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Radar Data ◽  
Spatial Behavior ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Total Percentage ◽  
Lightning Detection ◽  
Current Events ◽  
Location Algorithm ◽  
Wrong Place

Abstract. Lightning data as observed by the European Cooperation for Lightning Detection (EUCLID) network are used in combination with radar data to retrieve the temporal and spatial behavior of lightning outliers, i.e., discharges located in a wrong place, over a 5-year period from 2011 to 2016. Cloud-to-ground (CG) stroke and intracloud (IC) pulse data are superimposed on corresponding 5 min radar precipitation fields in two topographically different areas, Belgium and Austria, in order to extract lightning outliers based on the distance between each lightning event and the nearest precipitation. It is shown that the percentage of outliers is sensitive to changes in the network and to the location algorithm itself. The total percentage of outliers for both regions varies over the years between 0.8 and 1.7 % for a distance to the nearest precipitation of 2 km, with an average of approximately 1.2 % in Belgium and Austria. Outside the European summer thunderstorm season, the percentage of outliers tends to increase somewhat. The majority of all the outliers are low peak current events with absolute values falling between 0 and 10 kA. More specifically, positive cloud-to-ground strokes are more likely to be classified as outliers compared to all other types of discharges. Furthermore, it turns out that the number of sensors participating in locating a lightning discharge is different for outliers versus correctly located events, with outliers having the lowest amount of sensors participating. In addition, it is shown that in most cases the semi-major axis (SMA) assigned to a lightning discharge as a confidence indicator in the location accuracy (LA) is smaller for correctly located events compared to the semi-major axis of outliers.

scholarly journals The influence of starspots activity on the determination of planetary transit parameters

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 (S264) ◽  
pp. 440-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Silva-Válio
Keyword(s):  
Light Curve ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
The Other ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Active Star ◽  
Orbital Parameters ◽  
Correct Determination ◽  
The Times ◽  
Parent Star

AbstractAs a planet eclipses its parent star, dark spots on the surface of the star may be occulted, causing a detectable variation in the transit light curve. There are basically two effects caused by the presence of spots on the surface of the star which can alter the shape of the light curve during transits and thus preclude the correct determination of the planet physical and orbital parameters. The first one is that the presence of many spots within the latitude band occulted by the planet will cause the depth of the transit in the light curve to be shallower. This will erroneously result in a smaller radius for the planet. The other effect is that generated by spots located close to the limb of the star. In this case, the spots will interfere in the light curve during the times of ingress or egress of the planet, causing a decrease in the transit duration. This in turn will provide a larger value for the semi-major axis of the planetary orbit. Qualitative estimates of both effects are discussed and an example provided for a very active star, such as CoRoTo-2.

scholarly journals Post-conjunction detection of β Pictoris b with VLT/SPHERE

2019 ◽  
Vol 621 ◽  
pp. L8 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.-M. Lagrange ◽  
A. Boccaletti ◽  
M. Langlois ◽  
G. Chauvin ◽  
R. Gratton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Orbital Motion ◽  
Angular Separation ◽  
Major Axis ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Southwestern Part ◽  
Orbital Parameters ◽  
Very Large Telescope ◽  
Orbital Periods

Context. With an orbital distance comparable to that of Saturn in the solar system, β Pictoris b is the closest (semi-major axis ≃9 au) exoplanet that has been imaged to orbit a star. Thus it offers unique opportunities for detailed studies of its orbital, physical, and atmospheric properties, and of disk-planet interactions. With the exception of the discovery observations in 2003 with NaCo at the Very Large Telescope (VLT), all following astrometric measurements relative to β Pictoris have been obtained in the southwestern part of the orbit, which severely limits the determination of the planet’s orbital parameters. Aims. We aimed at further constraining β Pictoris b orbital properties using more data, and, in particular, data taken in the northeastern part of the orbit. Methods. We used SPHERE at the VLT to precisely monitor the orbital motion of beta β Pictoris b since first light of the instrument in 2014. Results. We were able to monitor the planet until November 2016, when its angular separation became too small (125 mas, i.e., 1.6 au) and prevented further detection. We redetected β Pictoris b on the northeast side of the disk at a separation of 139 mas and a PA of 30° in September 2018. The planetary orbit is now well constrained. With a semi-major axis (sma) of a = 9.0 ± 0.5 au (1σ), it definitely excludes previously reported possible long orbital periods, and excludes β Pictoris b as the origin of photometric variations that took place in 1981. We also refine the eccentricity and inclination of the planet. From an instrumental point of view, these data demonstrate that it is possible to detect, if they exist, young massive Jupiters that orbit at less than 2 au from a star that is 20 pc away.

scholarly journals Que pourra-t-on deduire des mesures de distance terre-lune par laser?

1974 ◽  
Vol 61 ◽  
pp. 269-274
Author(s):  
J. Kovalevsky
Keyword(s):  
Major Axis ◽  
Radio Interferometry ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Semi Major Axis ◽  
Lunar Laser Ranging ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Lunar Laser ◽  
Observational Errors ◽  
External Check

Although several lunar laser ranging stations exist, only one is now fully operational: the McDonald station with internal observational errors of less than 15 cm. The interpretation of the data involves a great number of parameters relative to the Earth and the Moon which are listed.The lunar laser is particularly fit for those parameters that pertain to the Moon, and with future lasers accurate to 2 or 3 cm, it may be expected that this accuracy will be projected into these parameters. The probable determination of the semi-major axis to 1 cm accuracy for a few months mean would imply a new means of determining the non conservative part of the motion of the Moon. A similar precision is to be expected for the rotation of the Moon. The situation for the Earth parameters (Earth rotation and polar motion) is not so good, because of a rather weak geometry of the problem and the monthly one week gap in the observations. Nevertheless, it will give a very useful external check on other competing methods (radio-interferometry, laser or radio-satellites).

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