(meteorobs) Geminids (Meteorobs)

[Marco Langbroek]

> The density of the Geminids is about 3g/cc while most other major meteor
> showers is near 1g/cc. Of course, the exhaust fluff from a comet isn't
> the density of the main body of a comet; so maybe Phaeton, as other spent
> comets and some asteroids, has meteoroid particles around them from
numerous
> micro-impacts, which is why some asteroids are associated with meteor
showers.
> Interestingly, the density of Geminid meteors is similar to the density of
> the CM2 meteorites.

Phaeton and the Geminids have a very small perihelion distance (0.14 AU) and
hence their density can be the result of volatiles being removed by solar
heath, and only solids remaining.

- Marco

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Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society (DMS)
Leiden, the Netherlands
52.15896 N, 4.48884 E (WGS 84)

e-mail: meteorites at dmsweb.org
DMS website: http://www.dmsweb.org
priv. website: http://home.wanadoo.nl/marco.langbroek
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