Lunar impact flashes from geminids: Analysis of luminous efficiencies and the flux of large meteoroids on earth

We analyse lunar impact flashes recorded by our team during runs in December 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014. In total, 12 impact flashes with magnitudes ranging between 7.1 and 9.3 in V band were identified. From these, nine events could be linked to the Geminid stream. Using these observations, the rati...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Ortiz, J. L., Madiedo Gil, José María, Morales, Nicolás, Santos-Sanz, P., Aceituno, Francisco J.
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Recursos:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/70978
Acesso em linha:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/70978
https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stv1921
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Meteorites
Meteoroids-Moon
Meteors
Descrição
Resumo:We analyse lunar impact flashes recorded by our team during runs in December 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014. In total, 12 impact flashes with magnitudes ranging between 7.1 and 9.3 in V band were identified. From these, nine events could be linked to the Geminid stream. Using these observations, the ratio of luminous energy emitted in the flashes with respect to the kinetic energy of the impactors for meteoroids of the Geminid stream is estimated. By making use of the known Geminids meteoroid flux on Earth we found this ratio to be 2.1 × 10-3 on average. We compare this luminous efficiency with other estimations derived in the past for other meteoroid streams and also compare it with other estimations that we present here for the first time by making use of crater diameter measurements. We think that the luminous efficiency has to be revised downwards, not upwards, at least for sporadic impacts. This implies an increase in the influx of kilogram-sized and larger bodies on Earth that has been derived thus far through the lunar impact flash monitoring technique