(meteorobs) An Explosion on the Moon

Swift, Wesley Wesley.Swift at nasa.gov
Tue Dec 27 12:52:39 EST 2005


Karl,

	It wasn't DETERMINED to be a Taurid, it just is most likely to
be one since a swarm of large Taurids was passing by at that time.
During that time period the chance of a 1kg class Taurid striking that
part of the moon was high while the chance of it being anything else,
based on the usual assumed rates, was low.  The Taurid radiant was also
high on that part of the moon at the time.  Dr. Cooke did a nice graphic
showing the sky as viewed from the impact site which can be seen in the
photos section of the Yahoo lunar-impact group.

Wes


-----Original Message-----
From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Karl Antier
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 5:48 AM
To: Global Meteor Observing Forum
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) An Explosion on the Moon

Hi all meteor observers !

Just  a small question...
Quoted from the article :
"Suggs and Cooke next consulted star charts and lunar imaging software
and determined the meteoroid was likely a Taurid, part of an annual
meteor shower active at the time of the strike."
"The object that hit the moon was "probably a Taurid," says MSFC meteor
expert Bill Cooke. In other words, it was part of the same meteor shower
that peppered Earth with fireballs in late October and early November
2005."

So, I was just wondering : how do astronomers determine the shower of a
meteor crashing on the Moon by watching this brief sparkle ? Is it only
made by checking if the hit face of the Moon is in the direction of
possible Taurids ? Or are there other arguments that would favor such an
hypothesis ?

Thanks in advance for your answers !
And clear skies to all !

Karl


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