Radio Detection of Meteors

Abstract

Most meteors that can be seen on a clear night, especially on the nights of a meteor shower, range in size from a grain of sand to the size of a pea. These meteors come from the debris left over from the tails of comets that have orbited around the Sun, in most cases many years ago. Mixed in with this cometary remains are small particles of debris that have come from other sources, such as the collision of two or more asteroids within the asteroid belt or the rubble left over after the solar system came into being. These small particles are drawn towards the inner solar system by the Sun’s gravity, they can get trapped within the debris left by comets. These small particles of cometary and other debris are known as meteoroids and have been left floating in space for many years after the comet has passed. They are gravitationally attracted to each other and build up to form dense regions, called meteor streams.