High Resolution Spectral Observations of Meteors
Supervisor: Dr. Margaret Campbell-Brown
Can extend to MSc?: Yes
Project Description (Abstract):
The Canadian Automated Meteor Observatory has a high-resolution tracking system that tracks meteors across the sky and can observe details of a few meters across. We see meteoroids fragmenting, exploding and crumbling as they collide with the upper atmosphere. A new system has been developed which tracks the meteors with a diffraction grating; the goal is to see if there are compositional differences between different fragments of the meteoroid, to see if crumbling meteors have different compositions from stronger meteoroids, and to infer the structure of comets and asteroids from these observations. The student will use a spectral model to model the compositions of meteors and fragments, and do population studies of meteors of cometary and asteroidal origins.
