Open AccessAn unusual meteor shower on 1 September 2007
Author(s) -
Jenniskens Peter,
Vaubaillon Jérémie
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2007eo320001
Subject(s) - meteor shower , meteor (satellite) , comet , meteoroid , astrobiology , astronomy , interplanetary dust cloud , planet , solar system , physics , comet dust , asteroid , comet tail , orbit (dynamics) , geology , solar wind , aerospace engineering , engineering , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
Around 83 B.C., give or take a century, comet Kiess (C/1911 N1) passed by the Sun, ejecting a cloud of dust particles. The comet returned in 1911, after completing one orbit. The dust particles were pushed by solar radiation pressure into slightly wider orbits and have been returning ever since, forming a thin ongoing stream of dust that usually passes just outside Earth's orbit. On occasion, the combined gravity of the solar system's planets moves this dust trail into Earth's path. Earth encountered this 2000‐year‐old dust in 1935, 1986, and 1994, causing a meteor shower known as the Aurigids.