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Meteor showers and their parent comets, by

Peter Jenniskens
Article March 2007
DOI: 10.1111/j.1945-5100.2007.tb00245.x

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Josep M. Trigo-Rodrguez
Spanish National Research Council
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Meteoritics & Planetary Science 42, Nr 3, 471472 (2007)

http://meteoritics.org

Book Review
Meteor showers and their parent comets, by Peter
Jenniskens. Cambridge University Press, 2006, 802 p., $150,
hardcover (ISBN 0-521-85349-4).
When a meteoroid ablates in the upper atmosphere it
produces a luminous phase that can be seen from long
distances called a meteor. In fact, terrestrial atmosphere can
be considered a valuable detector of penetrating
interplanetary matter. By studying the trajectories of meteors
in the sky from several stations, we can identify their radiants,
which provide information on the particular encounter
geometry with cometary and asteroidal debris intercepted by
Earth. Particularly, the Leonid shower (associated with comet
55P/Tempel-Tuttle) has played a major role in increasing
scientific interest in meteor science. However, the Leonid is
only one of tens of meteor showers known, most of them
associated with comets and perhaps a few produced by
asteroidal debris. In his book Meteor showers and their parent
comets, Peter Jenniskens tries to stimulate the interest of the
scientific community toward this constantly progressing field.
As good examples, recent work on meteor showers has
demonstrated that we can gain insight into the physical
properties (Rietmeijer 2004; Flynn 2004; Trigo-Rodrguez
and Llorca 2006) and the chemical composition of their
parent bodies (Borovika et al. 1999; Trigo-Rodrguez et al.
2003; Borovika et al. 2005). In this book, edited by
Cambridge University Press, Jenniskens presents an overview
on the sources of meteoroids reaching the Earth and terrestrial
planets. This nice-looking book comes at a special moment
characterized by a growing interest in the studies of primitive
bodies: comets and asteroids. Our understanding of the
formation and evolution of meteoroid streams has increased
significantly due to recent multi-instrument studies of
meteors, and new theoretical and computational power
capable of tracing the long-term evolution of meteoroids once
released from their parent bodies (Vaubaillon 2004).
Jenniskens book, containing updated data obtained by very
different detection and analytical techniques, is a good
example that meteor science is significantly evolving. Recent
progress in imaging techniques and meteor spectroscopy has
provided new approaches to the study of the ablation of
meteoroids in the atmosphere of Earth and other planets. The
study of meteors is becoming important in better
understanding the structure and composition of comets, the
formation and decay of cometary dust trails, the physical
processes that alter the structure and chemical composition of
these particles in the interplanetary space, and so forth.

The book comprises six parts: Introduction, Parent

bodies, Young streams from water vapor drag, Young streams
from comet fragmentation, Old streams and sporadic
meteoroids, and Impact and relevance of meteor showers.
Every part contains several chapters that are well ordered for
the benefit of both the beginner and the specialist. Most of the
chapters contain numerous black and white diagrams, graphs,
and pictures that are useful to follow the text.
The first part provides an exhaustive introduction on how
meteor showers were associated with comets. Additionally,
this section of the book gives an overall introduction to
comets nuclei, the basic physics involved in meteoroid
stream formation and evolution, and the processes that take
place during meteoroid interaction with the atmosphere of
planets that produce meteors.
In the second part, Jenniskens deals with the parent
bodies of meteoroid streams. In five chapters are described
the different sources of meteoroids: long-period comets,
Halley-type comets, Jupiter-family, fading comets, and a
description of the different asteroid families. The text
provides an interesting discussion on the Apollo and Aten
asteroid classes that can produce meteor showers on Earth.

471

The Meteoritical Society, 2007. Printed in USA.

472

Book Review

The third part describes recent progress in forecasting the

evolution of cometary dust trails whose encounter with Earth
produce meteor outbursts and storms. Recent modeling of the
dynamic evolution of meteoroids with different ages allows
good predictions of the encounters of these sheets of particles
with Earth. With good criteria, the author first describes the
historical events that were key to studying these amazing
encounters. Later on, most of the more interesting past and
future dust trail cometary encounters are described in detail.
This is a remarkable part of the book that is supported by very
useful tables in the Appendix.
Part IV discusses those meteoroid streams that,
according the author, were produced by the fragmentation of
their parent comet more so than by water vaporinduced
release (Whipple 1951). Some examples of these streams are
the Quadrantids (associated with 2003 EH1), Andromedids
(3D/Biela), Geminids (3200 Phaeton), Aquarids,
Capricornids, Cignids, and Taurids (2P/ Encke). It offers
a good description of how these fragmentation events led to
the formation of dense dust trails that evolved until
intersecting Earths orbit and producing wonderful meteor
displays. The text reconstructs many historical encounters
such as those produced by 3D/Biela (Andromedids) or D/
1819W1 Blanpain (Phoenicids), among others. Very useful
for researchers interested in orbital dynamics of meteoroids
are the descriptions of dust-trail evolution that Jenniskens
studied with the collaboration of modelers Jeremie
Vaubaillon and Esko Lyttinen.
Part V is devoted to description of old streams producing
annual meteor showers. The text explains the dispersion
processes that produce the gradual transformation of parentbody meteoroids into random-origin sporadic meteoroids.
Later on, the old ecliptic showers are discussed, focusing on
several complex showers, some of them perhaps associated
with asteroidal bodies. This interesting and controversial
topic is also studied in a chapter that provides evidence for
possible meteor (and meteorite) showers. Unfortunately, this
part is not fully updated and some recent examples (e.g., Park
Forest and Villalbeto de la Pea) are missing. Zodiacal
meteoroids as origin of the reflected zodiacal light are
presented in the last chapter of this part, although other recent
review is also remarkable (Sykes et al. 2004).
Finally, part VI tries to convince the reader of the
importance of meteor science. The first chapter is devoted to
impact hazard, and very particularly, how fireball monitoring
can help us decipher the flux and population of large
impactors that are currently reaching the Earth. Meteor
showers on other planets are also discussed as a good way to
increase our knowledge of meteoroid streams (remote
detection from satellites can increase the data on large
boulders present in dust trails). The last chapter of this part
deals with the role of meteors in the origin of life. Jenniskens
bridge on the role of meteors in the enrichment in volatiles
and organics of the early Earth can be seriously considered,
although some arguments need to be better explored.

Meteor showers and their parent comets is a good book

for beginners, amateurs, and researchers interested not only in
meteors, but also in the evolution of solar system minor
bodies. The text provides an overall introduction to the origin
of meteoroids and their direct applications to the study of their
parent objects. However, in my opinion the text is not
exhaustive, neither in the list of references given in each
chapter nor in describing the work done in this field in the last
decades. In any case, such tasks are difficult, and advanced
researchers can always take a look at other books on meteor
science that have appeared before. Just to cite some examples,
the book by Kronk (1988) is a compilation of amateur and
professional research on meteor showers, and describes the
contribution of all groups until the 1980s. Other books are
good reviews of recent achievements in this field, combining
theory of meteors and research techniques in more detail
(Murad and Williams 2002).
REFERENCES
Borovika J., Stork R., and Bocek J. 1999. First results from video
spectroscopy of 1998 Leonid meteors. Meteoritics & Planetary
Science 34:987994.
Borovika J., Koten P., Spurn P., Bocek J., and Stork R. 2005. A
survey of meteor spectra and orbits: Evidence for three
populations of Na-free meteoroids. Icarus 174:1530.
Flynn G. 2004. Physical properties of meteorites and interplanetary
dust particles: Clues to the properties of the meteors and their
parent bodies. Earth, Moon, and Planets 95:361374.
Kronk G. W. 1988. Meteor showers: A descriptive catalog. Hillside,
New Jersey: Enslow Publishers. 291 p.
Murad E. and Williams I. 2002. Meteors in the Earths atmosphere.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 332 p.
Rietmeijer F. J. M. 2004. Interplanetary dust and carbonaceous
meteorites: Constraints on porosity, mineralogy and chemistry of
meteors from rubble-pile planetesimals. Earth, Moon, and
Planets 95:321338.
Sykes M. V., Grn E., Reach W. T., and Jenniskens P. 2004. The
interplanetary dust complex and comets. In Comets II, edited by
Festou M. C., Keller H. U., and Weaver H. A. Tucson, Arizona:
The University of Arizona Press. pp. 677693.
Trigo-Rodrguez J. M., Llorca J., Borovika J., and Fabregat J. 2003.
Chemical abundances determined from meteor spectra: I. Ratios
of the main chemical elements. Meteoritics & Planetary Science
38:12831294.
Trigo-Rodrguez J. M. and Llorca J. 2006. Cometary meteoroids
strength: Clues to the structure and evolution of comets. Monthly
Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 372:655660.
Vaubaillon J. 2004. Dynamic of meteoroids in the solar system.
Application to the prediction of meteoritic showers in general,
and Leonids in particular. Ph.D. thesis. Institute de Mchanique
Cleste et de Calcul des phmrides, Observatoire de Paris,
Paris, France.
Whipple F. L. 1951. A comet model. II. Physical relations for comets
and meteors. The Astrophysical Journal 113:464474.

Josep Maria Trigo-Rodrguez

Institute of Space Sciences (IEEC-CSIC)
Campus UAB, Facultat de Ciencies
Torre C-5, parells, 2a planta
ES-08193 Barcelona, Spain