Astronomers find 86 previously unknown meteor showers
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029210
Nature : The biggest and brightest meteor showers are well enough known that they get mentions in regular news sources. But fainter showers are found every year. A team led by Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute in California has identified 86 such showers using a repurposed network of security cameras. The team has also confirmed 81 other showers originally detected by other observers. The Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance project uses 60 cameras in three locations in northern California. The cameras watch a dome of sky ranging from directly overhead to 30° above the horizon. Each shower occurs as Earth passes through clouds of dust left behind by comets or asteroids. The identification of showers provides a clearer picture of the solar system’s dust.
