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Parent Bodies



Hi List,

While enjoying the Leonid debris from 55P/Temple-Tuttle, I
was thinking about the parents of meteor showers. I know
most are cometary, but apparently some are asteroids, such
as the Geminids and asteroid 3200 Phaeton.

My questions to you experts:

1) Why are so many parent bodies unknown? Is it because they
are long period comets, or comets perturbed perhaps by
Jupiter or some other body?

2) Why are apparently so few asteroidal? My theory is that
comets are more friable, and gas venting and solar wind
blows more stuff off. I would also think that an asteroid
parent body would have to be impacted before enough debris
is present to create a shower, but then I would expect
meteorites, and the experts say none fall during showers. (I
bet they have, but have not been found)

3) Who has the best list of parent-shower data on the net?
Something I can print out and tape to the wall?

It seems to me that in general meteor streams are not
well-understood yet.

Cheers,
Brian Boldman



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