Development of High-Resolution Meteor Spectra Analysis

Meteoroids are often billions of years old and as they ablate and ionize in the atmosphere, they give off light leaving us clues to the history of our solar system. In addition, their presence imposes serious risks to our equipment and astronauts in space. My research deals with analyzing High-Resolution Meteor Spectra, which are obtained by separating the light Meteors give off through a Diffraction Grating. Firstly, as the Meteor’s speed during ablation affects its spectrum, the position, speed, and trajectory of 40 well-tracked Meteors (picked from over 500) were determined using the programs Metal and Mirfit. Then, the spectra of all 40 Meteors were graphed using the program Camo-S, and problems regarding frame stacking and material fittings were solved. Analyzing the results, it is determined that 25 Meteors out the 40 were from Comets and 15 were from Asteroids as shown by their respective trajectories. Moreover, it is discovered that a shift of 10-12 nm to the right is needed to transform raw spectra to its correct place. Furthermore, the location of Calcium and Sodium peaks on spectra were discovered, and a reoccurring miscellaneous peak around 450 nm was noticed. Thus, more research is needed to investigate the unknown peak, to identify the location of other elements through the known position of Ca/Na, and to investigate methods to analyze materials in Meteors without Ca/Na in the near future