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The Taurid Complex: Giant Comet Origin?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

D.I. Steel ,
D.J. Asher  and
S.V.M. Clube
D.I. Steel
Affiliation:
Department of Physics and Mathematical Physics University of Adelaide, G.P.O.Box 498, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia Department of Physics, University of OxfordKeble Road, Oxford, 0X1 3RH, United Kingdom
D.J. Asher
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of OxfordKeble Road, Oxford, 0X1 3RH, United Kingdom
S.V.M. Clube
Affiliation:
Department of Physics, University of OxfordKeble Road, Oxford, 0X1 3RH, United Kingdom

Abstract

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The formation and evolution of the Taurid Complex of interplanetary objects is modelled on the basis of the parent being a giant comet which entered the inner solar system some time in the past 10,000-20,000 years. The orbital element distributions for the presently-observed meteor showers are discussed in terms of how these can constrain any model for the origin of the overall complex. As a baseline model we present results from the numerical integrations of fictitious meteoroids released from a comet over ten millenia, this comet having initial elements similar to those derived from a backwards integration of P/Encke. Large relative velocities at perihelion, above those feasible in conventional ejection scenarios, are necessary; we ascribe these to jetting of organics and other volatiles soon after release. Such a model gives a good first-order fit to the observed orbits, although additional processes (cometary splitting or asteroidal collisions) appear also to be necessary to explain the Taurids.

Type
Meteoroids and Meteor Streams
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 126: Origin and Evolution of Interplanetary Dust , 1991 , pp. 327 - 330
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1991

References

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