Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
Virtual meeting
21 September – 9 October 2020
EPSC Abstracts
Vol.14, EPSC2020-609, 2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-609
Europlanet Science Congress 2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

On the sodium enhancement in spectra of slow meteors and the origin of Na-rich meteoroids

Pavol Matlovič1, Juraj Tóth1, Leonard Kornoš1, and Stefan Loehle2
Pavol Matlovič et al.
  • 1Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Department of Astronomy, Physics of the Earth, and Meteorology, Slovakia (matlovic@fmph.uniba.sk)
  • 2High Enthalpy Flow Diagnostics Group, Institut für Raumfahrtsysteme, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 29, D-70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Distinct Na-enhanced and Na-rich meteor spectra have been previously identified by different authors, but the explanation of their origin and interpretation of the corresponding meteoroid composition was lacking. To study this population, we utilized meteor spectra observations of the global AMOS network and high-resolution Echelle spectra of ablating meteorite samples obtained in a high-enthalpy plasma wind tunnel at the IRS facilities in Stuttgart. It was found that most Na-enhanced and Na-rich spectra can be explained by the effect of low meteor speed related to low ablation temperatures and generally do not reflect real meteoroid composition. Spectra obtained by the laboratory experiment simulating low meteor speeds show corresponding Na-rich spectral profiles irrespectively of the meteorite composition. For more clarity in the classification of Na-enhanced and Na-rich meteoroids, we propose new speed-dependent boundaries between the spectral classes. Based on this classification, we reveal real compositional Na enhancement in five cometary meteoroids including two Perseids, an 𝛼-Capricornid, 𝜈-Draconid and a sporadic. The two Na-enhanced Perseids were linked with increased material strength suggesting that the detected increase of volatile content has implications for the meteoroid structure.

How to cite: Matlovič, P., Tóth, J., Kornoš, L., and Loehle, S.: On the sodium enhancement in spectra of slow meteors and the origin of Na-rich meteoroids, Europlanet Science Congress 2020, online, 21 September–9 Oct 2020, EPSC2020-609, https://doi.org/10.5194/epsc2020-609, 2020