(meteorobs) Circular IAU C22 Pro-Amat WG: Possible meteors from comet P/2005 JQ5 (Catalina)

Petrus Jenniskens pjenniskens at mail.arc.nasa.gov
Thu Jun 16 17:31:53 EDT 2005


CIRCULAR FROM THE PRO-AMAT WORKING GROUP OF IAU C-22
June 16,2005
==============================================================

POSSIBLE METEORS FROM COMET P/2005 JQ5 (CATALINA)

It was first pointed out by Mikhail Maslov (meteorobs) 
that comet
P/2005 JQ5 does not pass far from Earth orbit and may 
cause meteor
activity. He found that the current elements put the 
radiant at
RA=242 deg, Dec=-09 deg, and any meteors from this radiant 
would
be very slow (Vg=16 km/s).

A study by Esko Lyytinen and Peter Jenniskens now shows 
that
most recent dust trails from this comet (particularly 
those of 2005
and 1948)  are well within Earth orbit and are not 
expected to cause
noticeable activity. However, dust ejected around 
1300-1400 A.D.
may have wandered in Earth's path as a very dispersed 
stream
between June 14 and June 24. In particular, Esko evaluated 
the
trails 1302, 1350, 1403, and 1500 A.D. to find that all 
accumulate
at around the same range of solar longitude, with the 
comet orbit
not changing much over that timeframe.

For the period June 14 - June 24, a low level of activity 
may radiate
from (for June 17.0)  RA = 244.3, Decl. = -9.9 (J2000.0) 
with
Vinf = 19.05 km/s (or Vg = 15.44 km/s).

This is near the star psi-Scorpii, just above the ecliptic 
plane
and near the antihelion source direction. To discriminate 
from sporadic
meteors, orbits may need to be determined. A test 
particles from
the 1302 trail near Earth orbit at the current Epoch was 
found to
have orbital elements:

a = 2.76 AU
q = 0.8417 AU
Node = 86.067 degrees (J2000.0)
w = 233.79 degrees
i = 4.94 degrees

It is not known if this comet was active that long ago, 
nor how much
dust it may have ejected. Hence, any predictions of meteor 
activity
will be unreliable. We surmise that the activity will be 
low and dispersed
over a ten-day period.

When the comet is near Earth in 2085, the dust ejected in 
the
return of 2005 will also be close to Earth path that year 
and the
shower may be more prominent.

-Peter Jenniskens

Chair Pro-Amat Working Group IAU C-22


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