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Unusual Activity of the Delta Mensid Meteor Shower

Unusual Activity of the Delta Mensid Meteor Shower

Delta Mensid Meteor Shower Plot

SETI Institute astronomer Peter Jenniskens reports an unexpected detection of the Delta Mensids (IAU shower 130) by low-light video cameras of the Namibia branch of the global CAMS network on March 13. The shower was much stronger than in previous years also in southern hemisphere radar observations led by Diego Janches of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Both teams report their observations to the astronomical community via the IAU Central Bureau on Electronic Telegrams. Normally, meteor showers are caused by bits of rocky matter ejected by comets, but this meteor shower appears to originate from an asteroid. In an upcoming paper in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Diego Janches and colleagues report that the parent body of this shower is asteroid number 248590, also known as “2006 CS”.

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