Illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Princeton researchers used NASAs Parker Solar Probe information to deduce a violent, disastrous event– such as a high-speed crash or a gaseous explosion– most likely created the Geminids meteoroid stream, which abnormally stems from an asteroid rather than a comet. Credit: Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
Princeton scientists used information from NASAs Parker Solar Probe to deduce that a disastrous event most likely created the prolific Geminids meteoroid stream.
Unlike many meteor showers which originate from comets, the Geminids appear to stem from the asteroid 3200 Phaethon. The scientists designed three possible formation circumstances and compared these to designs established from Earth-based observations. The information from the Parker Solar Probe led them to mark down the conventional cometary model and conclude that a violent event likely produced the Geminids stream, deepening our understanding of the structure and history of asteroids.
The Geminids meteoroids illuminate the sky as they race previous Earth each winter season, producing among the most intense meteor showers in our night sky.
Illustration of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Princeton scientists used NASAs Parker Solar Probe information to deduce a violent, devastating occasion– such as a gaseous explosion or a high-speed collision– likely developed the Geminids meteoroid stream, which unusually stems from an asteroid rather than a comet. The information from the Parker Solar Probe led them to discount the conventional cometary design and conclude that a violent event most likely developed the Geminids stream, deepening our understanding of the composition and history of asteroids.
Artists idea of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Princeton researchers, studying the unique Geminids meteor shower, have actually utilized information from NASAs Parker Solar Probe to infer that a devastating event– like a high-speed accident or gaseous explosion– produced the Geminids meteoroid stream.
Mysteries surrounding the origin of this meteoroid stream have actually long fascinated researchers due to the fact that, while most meteor showers are developed when a comet emits a tail of ice and dust, the Geminids originate from an asteroid– a portion of rock that generally does not produce a tail. Up until just recently, the Geminids had actually only been studied from Earth.
Each winter, the Geminids meteoroids light up the sky as they race previous Earth, producing among the most extreme meteor showers in our night sky. Until now, the Geminids had actually just been studied from Earth.
Now, Princeton scientists utilized observations from NASAs Parker Solar Probe objective to deduce that it was likely a violent, disastrous event– such as a high-speed accident with another body or a gaseous surge– that produced the Geminids. The findings, which were released in the Planetary Science Journal on June 15, narrow down hypotheses about this asteroids structure and history that would explain its unconventional behavior.
” Asteroids are like little time capsules for the formation of our solar system,” stated Jamey Szalay, research scholar at the Princeton University space physics lab and co-author on the paper. “They were formed when our solar system was formed, and comprehending their structure offers us another piece of the story.”
An uncommon asteroid
Unlike many understood meteor showers that originate from comets, which are made of ice and dust, the Geminids stream appears to originate from an asteroid– a chunk of rock and metal– called 3200 Phaethon.
” Most meteoroid streams are formed via a cometary system, its uncommon that this one seems to be from an asteroid,” said Wolf Cukier, undergraduate class of 2024 at Princeton and lead author on the paper.
” Additionally, the stream is orbiting somewhat outside of its parent body when its closest to the sun, which isnt obvious to explain simply by taking a look at it,” he added, referring to a current research study with Parker Solar Probe images of the Geminids led by Karl Battams of the Naval Research Laboratory.
Princeton researchers used observations from NASAs Parker Solar Probe mission to deduce that it was likely a violent, catastrophic event– such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion– that developed the Geminids meteoroid stream. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Ben Smith
When a comet takes a trip close to the Sun it gets hotter, causing the ice on the surface area to launch a tail of gas, which in turn drags with it little pieces of ice and dust. This material continues to route behind the comet as it stays within the Suns gravitational pull. Gradually, this duplicated procedure fills the orbit of the parent body with material to form a meteoroid stream.
Due to the fact that asteroids like 3200 Phaethon are made of rock and metal, they are not generally affected by the Suns heat the way comets are, leaving scientists to wonder what causes the development of 3200 Phaethons stream throughout the night sky.
” Whats really weird is that we know that 3200 Phaethon is an asteroid, however as it flies by the Sun, it appears to have some type of temperature-driven activity,” Szalay said. “Most asteroids dont do that.”
Some scientists have actually suggested that 3200 Phaethon might really be a comet that lost all of its snow, leaving only a rocky core looking like an asteroid. However the brand-new Parker Solar Probe information reveal that although some of 3200 Phaethons activity is connected to temperature level, the development of the Geminids stream was most likely not brought on by a cometary mechanism, but by something far more disastrous.
Opening the time pill
To learn more about the origin of the Geminids stream, Cukier, and Szalay used the brand-new Parker Solar Probe data to model three possible development situations, then compared these models to existing models produced from Earth-based observations.
” There are whats called the basic design of development of a meteoroid stream, and the violent development model,” Cukier stated. “Its called basic since its the most simple thing to design, however actually these processes are both violent, just different degrees of violence.”
Near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon. Credit: Arecibo Observatory/NASA/NSF
These different models show the chain of events that would take place according to the laws of physics based upon various circumstances. Cukier utilized the basic model to simulate all of the pieces of material releasing from the asteroid with zero relative velocity– or with no speed or instructions relative to 3200 Phaethon– to see what the resulting orbit would look like and compare it to the orbit revealed by the Parker Solar Probe probe information.
He then utilized the violent development design to simulate the material launching from the asteroid with a relative velocity of as much as one kilometer per hour, as if the pieces were knocked loose by an abrupt, violent occasion.
He likewise simulated the cometary design– the mechanism behind the formation of many meteoroid streams. The resulting simulated orbit matched the least with the method the Geminids orbit really appears according to the Parker Solar Probe data, so they eliminated this situation.
In comparing the simulated orbits from each of the designs, the team found that the violent designs were most consistent with the Parker Solar Probe information, meaning its likely that an unexpected, violent occasion– such as a high-speed collision with another body or a gaseous explosion, among other possibilities– produced the Geminids stream.
The research constructs on the work of Szalay and several associates of the Parker Solar Probe objective, constructed and assembled at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, to assemble an image of the structure and habits of the big cloud of dust that swirls through the inner solar system.
Artists idea of the Parker Solar Probe spacecraft approaching the sun. Princeton researchers, studying the distinct Geminids meteor shower, have actually made use of information from NASAs Parker Solar Probe to presume that a devastating occasion– like a high-speed crash or gaseous surge– produced the Geminids meteoroid stream. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins APL/Steve Gribben
They made the most of Parkers flight course– an orbit that swings it just millions of miles from the Sun, closer than any spacecraft in history– to get the finest direct take a look at the dirty cloud of grains shed from passing asteroids and comets.
Although the probe doesnt determine dust particles straight, it can track dust grains in a creative way: as dust grains shower the spacecraft along its course, the high-velocity impacts develop plasma clouds. These impact clouds produce unique signals in electric capacity that are gotten by numerous sensing units on the probes FIELDS instrument, which is created to determine the electric and magnetic fields near the Sun.
” The first-of-its-kind data our spacecraft is gathering now will be evaluated for decades to come,” stated Nour Raouafi, Parker Solar Probe task scientist at APL. “And its exciting to see scientists of all levels and abilities digging into it to shed light on the Sun, the planetary system, and deep space beyond.”
Reaching for the stars
Cukier stated his enthusiasm for finding out about outer space integrated with department support are what inspired him to pursue this project.
After taking a hands-on laboratory class offered by the Princeton space physics laboratory– where he gained practical experience building area instruments, like those presently sampling the Suns environment aboard Parker Solar Probe– and acting as treasurer for the undergraduate astronomy club, he chose he desired to pursue extracurricular research.
When he reached out to scientists in the Princeton Space Physics group, he was fulfilled with enthusiasm. “Everyone is very encouraging of undergraduate research, especially in astrophysics, since its truly part of the department culture,” he said.
” Its constantly wonderful when our students like Wolf can contribute so highly to this sort of space research study,” stated David McComas, head of the Space Physics group and vice president for the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL). “Many of us have actually feared of the Geminids meteor screens for years and it is awesome to lastly have the information and research to reveal how they likely formed.”
“For the Geminids, for circumstances, anybody can go outside on December 14 this year at night and look up. Its visible from Princeton, and some of the meteors are actually intense.
For more on this discovery, see Parker Solar Probe Sheds Light on Unusual, Violent Origin of Geminid Meteor Shower.
Referral: “Formation, Structure, and Detectability of the Geminids Meteoroid Stream” by W. Z. Cukier and J. R. Szalay, 15 June 2023, The Planetary Science Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ PSJ/acd538.
” Formation, Structure, and Detectability of the Geminids Meteoroid Stream” by W.Z. Cukier and J.R. Szalay was released June 15, 2023 by Planetary Science Journal (DOI 10.3847/ PSJ/acd538). The research was supported by the Parker Solar Probe Guest Investigator Program (80NSSC21K1764). Parker Solar Probe belongs to NASAs Living with a Star program to explore aspects of the Sun-Earth system that straight impact life and society. The program is managed by NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center for the Heliophysics Division of NASAs Science Mission Directorate. APL handles the Parker Solar Probe objective for NASA.
