Bulletin of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. Astronomy, no. 72, p. 10-16 (2025)
OBSERVATION AND CALCULATION OF KINEMATIC PARAMETERS OF METEORS BASING ON AN EXAMPLE OF THE KYIV VIDEO ARCHIVE OF PERSEIDS SHOWER: ELEMENTS OF THE HELIOCENTRIC ORBIT
Pavlo KOZAK, PhD (Phys. & Math.), Senior Researcher
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8357-8446
еmail: kpm@knu.ua
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
Olexander ROZHILO, Leading Engineer
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
Yuriy TARANUKHA, PhD (Phys. & Math.), Researcher
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
Abstract
Background. The article is dedicated to the methods and accuracy of calculating the kinematic characteristics of meteors obtained from baseline television (video) observations. The accuracy of data processing and the calculation of computation errors are demonstrated using the results of observations of Perseid meteors in 2010, conducted over one night. This work is a continuation of the first part, which described the idea and practice of using the Monte Carlo method, and presented the trajectory elements of the mentioned meteors. Now, a description of the development and implementation of the corresponding software, and the results of calculating the heliocentric orbit elements of the same meteors, are proposed.
Methods. A brief overview of the practical application scheme of the Monte Carlo method for processing video observations of meteors is proposed. In general, the software consists of two basic components – the actual procedure for calculating all kinematic parameters of a meteor at each step of generating the corresponding random numbers (input distributions of the equatorial coordinates of the meteor’s head), and the visualization of statistical distributions of all kinematic characteristics of the meteor during calculations, with the final output of data to an external file.
Results. The results of calculating radiants and heliocentric orbit elements, and their standard deviations for 11 Perseid meteors, which have not been published before, are presented. Special attention is paid to the calculation of the orbit’s semi-major axis (and its error), which is performed using its inverse value, proportional to the meteoroid’s energy. This value is relevant for searching for meteoroids with hyperbolic orbits, which may indicate their origin from outside the Solar System.
Conclusions. The application of the Monte Carlo method is an original approach for estimating the mean values and variances of all kinematic parameters of a meteor. The corresponding software visually demonstrates the change (refinement) of the statistical distributions of the meteor’s kinematic characteristics during the calculation, which allows stopping the random number generation process, and the entire process, at any moment. The distributions of error values for certain parameters of Perseid meteors are demonstrated.
Key words
Meteor, meteor double-station observations, video-observations, statistical methods of data processing, automation of observation process, meteor orbital elements.
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/BTSNUA.2025.72.10-16