Lunar impact flashes from Geminids, analysis of luminous efficiencies and the flux of large meteoroids on Earth

Jose L. Ortiz, Jose M. Madiedo, Nicolas Morales, Pablo Santos-Sanz, Francisco J. Aceituno
(Submitted on 23 Nov 2015)

We analyze lunar impact flashes recorded by our team during runs in December 2007, 2011, 2013 and 2014. In total, 12 impact flashes with magnitudes ranging between 7.1 and 9.3 in V band were identified. From these, 9 events could be linked to the Geminid stream. Using these observations the ratio of luminous energy emitted in the flashes with respect to the kinetic energy of the impactors for meteoroids of the Geminid stream is estimated. By making use of the known Geminids meteoroid flux on Earth we found this ratio to be 2.1×103 on average. We compare this luminous efficiency with other estimations derived in the past for other meteoroid streams and also compare it with other estimations that we present here for the first time by making use of crater diameter measurements. We think that the luminous efficiency has to be revised downward, not upward, at least for sporadic impacts. This implies an increase in the influx of kilogram-sized and larger bodies on Earth that has been derived thus far through the lunar impact flash monitoring technique.

Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
Journal reference: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 2015, Volume 454, Issue 1, p.344-352
DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stv1921
Cite as: arXiv:1511.07153 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:1511.07153v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
Submission history
From: Jose Maria Madiedo
[v1] Mon, 23 Nov 2015 09:40:44 GMT (270kb)
http://arxiv.org/abs/1511.07153