National Aeronautics and NASA/TM—2015–218209 Space Administration IS20 George C. Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, Alabama 35812 Results of Lunar Impact Observations During Geminid Meteor Shower Events R.J Suggs and R.M. Suggs Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama May 2015 The NASA STI Program…in Profile Since its founding, NASA has been dedicated to the • CONFERENCE PUBLICATION. Collected advancement of aeronautics and space science. The papers from scientific and technical conferences, NASA Scientific and Technical Information (STI) symposia, seminars, or other meetings sponsored Program Office plays a key part in helping NASA or cosponsored by NASA. maintain this important role. • SPECIAL PUBLICATION. Scientific, technical, The NASA STI Program Office is operated by or historical information from NASA programs, Langley Research Center, the lead center for projects, and mission, often concerned with NASA’s scientific and technical information. 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Does not contain extensive NASA STI Information Desk analysis. Mail Stop 148 NASA Langley Research Center • CONTRACTOR REPORT. Scientific and Hampton, VA 23681–2199, USA technical findings by NASA-sponsored contractors and grantees. NASA/TM—2015–218209 Results of Lunar Impact Observations During Geminid Meteor Shower Events R.J Suggs and R.M. Suggs Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marshall Space Flight Center • Huntsville, Alabama 35812 May 2015 i Acknowledgments The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the observers during the Geminid shower events. These observers include Danielle Moser, Wesley Swift, and Victoria Coffey during the 2006 event, and Renae Johnson during the 2010 event. TRADEMARKS Trade names and trademarks are used in this report for identification only. This usage does not constitute an official endorsement, either expressed or implied, by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Available from: NASA STI Information Desk Mail Stop 148 NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA 23681–2199, USA 757–864–9658 This report is also available in electronic form at <http://www.sti.nasa.gov> ii TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 2. BACKGROUND ................................................................................................................ 3 2.1 Lunar Observation Facilities and Methodology ............................................................ 3 2.2 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................... 5 2.3 Overview of Lunar Observation Results ....................................................................... 7 3. LUNAR OBSERVATIONS DURING THE GEMINID SHOWERS ............................... 10 3.1 The 2006 Geminid Shower ............................................................................................ 10 3.2 The 2010 Geminid Shower ............................................................................................ 14 3.3 Comparison of 2006 and 2010 Geminid Lunar Impacts ............................................... 19 4. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................. 26 APPENDIX A—AN EXPLOSION ON THE MOON (WEB PAGE ARTICLE) ................... 28 APPENDIX B—A METEOROID HITS THE MOON (WEB PAGE ARTICLE) ................. 31 APPENDIX C—THE 2009 GEMINID METEOR SHOWER (WEB PAGE ARTICLE) ...... 33 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 35 iii LIST OF FIGURES 1. The NASA MEO and Natural Environments Branch’s observatories: (a) The ALaMO at MSFC where two telescopes are located, one in the SD and the other in the Tower facility, and (b) the remotely operated telescope located in Walker County, GA .................................................................................. 3 2. The telescope field-of-view and orientation during the evening and morning observations when the lunar phase is between 10% and 45% ..................................... 4 3. Example video frames from the videos of the ALaMO Tower and SD telescopes recorded on January 9, 2011. Also shown is an impact flash that was simultaneously recorded in both videos ....................................................... 5 4. LunarScan flash detection software user interface. Each window provides flash detection information: visual location of flash (upper-left), enhanced subimages of video frame sequence containing flash (upper-middle), shower impact geometry and phase visualization (lower-left), and video time and frame information (lower-right) ................................................................................ 6 5. Over five years of observed meteoroid impacts and their shower classifications ........ 8 6. Observed number of impacts associated with major shower events from 2006 to 2011. Also indicated is which lunar observing session the showers were observed, either morning (M) or evening (E) ............................................................. 9 7. The 2006 Geminid lunar impact geometry showing the predicted impacts (dots) for December 14, 2006. Also shown is the phase of the Moon, which is at 35% illumination ................................................................................................ 10 8. Observed 2006 Geminid meteor shower rates from the IMO data. Overlaid is MSFC lunar observation schedule and observation status ..................................... 11 9. Observed 2006 Geminid lunar impact locations ........................................................ 13 10. Geminid 2006 impact no. 11 occurring at 9:00:22 UTC. Example of one of the observed impacts detected in both the videos of the ALaMO telescopes ........ 13 11. The 2010 Geminid lunar impact geometry showing the predicted impacts (dots) for December 14, 2010. Also shown is the phase of the Moon which is at 54% illumination ............................................................................................................... 14 iv LIST OF FIGURES (Continued) 12. Observed 2010 Geminid meteor shower rates from the IMO data. Overlaid is MSFC lunar observation schedule and observation status ..................................... 15 13. Lunar impact locations of the 2010 Geminids (left) and the 2006 Geminids (right) ................................................................................... 16 14. Geminid 2010 impact no. 19 occurring at 4:43:03 UTC. Example of one of the observed impacts detected in the video from the SD telescope. The impact was not detected in the Tower video but was visually confirmed. The impact flash was obscured in the WCO video ................................................................................ 17 15. Geminid 2010 impact no. 16 occurring at 4:08:31 UTC. Example of one of the observed impacts detected in both the videos of the ALaMO telescopes ......... 18 16. Minor shower impact geometries for December 14, 2010: (a) Monocerotids and (b) Sigma Hydrids. Showers are coincident with the 2010 Geminids ................... 19 17. Plot of Geminid lunar impact flash time of occurrence and flash duration for the (a) 2006 and (b) 2010 Geminid showers. Also shown are start and end times of the lunar observations and periods of cloudiness .................................. 20 18. Plot of the cumulative number of lunar impacts versus elapsed observation time during the (a) 2006 and (b) 2010 Geminid showers. Also shown is a least-squares fit of the data points where the slope represents the average lunar impact rate observed for each shower .........................................................................................