Meteor Detection with Country Music

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Meteor Detection with Country Music

• Danielle Moser
• University of Illinois
• Professor M. Selen
• Physics 303

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Radio Meteor Detection

• Danielle Moser
• University of Illinois
• Professor M. Selen
• Physics 303

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Objectives

• Detect meteors
• Count November meteors
• Count Leonid meteor shower
• Other quantitative measurements?

Fisheye exposure from Astronomical Observatory
Modra in Slovakia
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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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Obligatory Terminology

• Meteoroid piece of debris, later to enter
  Earths atmosphere, traveling through space
  towards our planet small asteroids
• Meteor debris that enters Earths atmosphere
  most are comet by-products
• Meteorite meteor large enough to survive its
  passage through the atmosphere to hit the ground

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Yup, MoreObligatory Terminology

• Meteor stream orbit of meteoroids around the
  sun
• Meteor shower what is seen when Earths orbit
  crosses a meteor stream
• Radiant the point from which a meteor appears
  to emanate
• Meteor trail/train trail of ionized dust and
  gas that remains along the path of a meteor

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Leonids

• Quicktime movie by Don Davis, courtesy of Sky
  Telescope

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Leonids (2)

• This year, Earth traveled through the dust
  ejected in 1767 and 1866
• For the US, the 1866 trail peaked in the early
  morning hours
• of November 19

Armagh Observatory, Ireland
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2002 Leonid Prediction - Total
http//www.ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp/s000268/radio/leo02f
orcast2.htm
Peak prediction for Champaign-Urbana 1000 -1100
meteors total
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2002 Leonid Prediction 10min
http//www.ipe.tsukuba.ac.jp/s000268/radio/leo02f
orcast3.htm
Prediction for Champaign-Urbana 90 -100
meteors/10min max.
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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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2 Experiment Types
FM
Forward Scattering
AM/SSB
Doppler
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Forward Scattering Theory
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Forward ScatteringFM mode

• Pros
• Good for RF noisy locations
• Not affected by lightning
• Receivers are cheap

• Cons
• Very wide bandwidth
• Poor sensitivity
• Software relies on tripping an audio voltage
  threshold to count
• Cant be used with FFT software

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2 Experiment Types
FM
Forward Scattering
AM/SSB
Doppler
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Doppler Theory
meteor trail
SSB receiver
TV Transmitter
Earth
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DopplerSSB/AM modes

• Pros
• Narrow bandwidth
• Good sensitivity
• Can use FFT software
• Quantitative calculations

• Cons
• Affected by lightning RF spikes
• Detection of other atmospheric phenomena
  corrupts data
• Frequency stable receiver expensive

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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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Equipment

• Forward Scattering
• Antennae (2)
• 6 element, FM
• FM Receivers (2)
• IFR, Audiovox
• Computers (2)
• PII, P166, DOS, Meteor v.7

• Doppler
• Antenna
• wire loop
• SSB Receiver
• AR8000
• Computer
• PIII, Win, M-Analyzer
• DAT tape recorder

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Forward Scattering
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Forward Scattering
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Forward Scattering
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Forward Scattering
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Doppler
Loop Antenna
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Doppler
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Doppler
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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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Sounds

• Forward Scattering
• Noise until station acquisition
• Short pops, clicks
• Long music, talking

• Doppler
• Noise with underlying tone
• Short chirps, blips
• Long chirpchirpchirp, chiiirchiirchirrp

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November Data
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FSDoppler Leonid Maximum
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Leonid Data Summary
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Recall theObjectives

• Detect meteors
• Count November meteors
• Count Leonid meteor shower
• Other quantitative measurements?

Fisheye exposure from Astronomical Observatory
Modra in Slovakia
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Outline

• Introduction to Meteors
• Easy Meteor Detection Theory
• Field Setup
• Results
• Ongoing work

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To Do

• Send results to U. of Tsukuba International
  Project for Radio Meteor Observation

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Intl Proj. for Radio Meteor Obs.
http//homepage2.nifty.com/baron/amro02map.htm
115 sites in 23 countries
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To Do

• Send results to U. of Tsukuba International
  Project for Radio Meteor Observation

• Work with UIAS to turn experiment into EOH
  project
• Find better antenna mounting
• Get Doppler detection working try IFR
• Observe the Geminids peak Dec 12/13

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Improvements

• Build FM antenna for specific frequency
• Buy frequency agile RF filter
• Buy frequency stable receiver
• Better FFT software

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Acknowledgments

• USA
• Jeff Brower (FRII)
• Walter Miller (NASA)
• Bill Cochran (UIUC)

• Europe
• Pierre Terrier (Fr)
• Esko Olli Lyytinen (Fin)
• Japan
• Hiroshi Ogawa (U. of Tsukuba)