CEDAR: Clustering of Instruments for the Study of Long- Enduring Meteor Trails

研究人员正在观察一种显着的物理现象：一些流星留下的长期发光痕迹。 研究人员利用阿雷西博天文台和星火光学范围，在 1997 年 11 月、1998 年和 1999 年的狮子座流星雨期间进行观测。他们主要希望能够明确观测四十年前预测（但尚未证实）的流星烟雾和尘埃的形成。 接下来，他们研究了钠夜光带作为长期视觉轨迹的潜在来源，尘埃等离子体物理作为雷达散射的贡献者，以及流星轨迹的不相干散射报告以及流星后面钠原子的烧蚀和随后的动力学。 最后，他们正在确定这些路径用于重力波研究的可行性。

Investigators are observing a remarkable physical phenomenon: long-lived luminous trails left behind by some meteors. Using the Arecibo Observatory and the Starfire Optical Range, researchers are observing during the Leonids meteor showers in November of 1997, 1998, and 1999. Primarily, they hope to definitively observe meteoric smoke and dust formation, predicted (but not yet verified) forty years ago. Next, they investigate the sodium nightglow band as a potential source for long-lived visual trails, dusty plasma physics as a contributor to radar scatter, and incoherent scatter reports of meteor trails and the ablation and subsequent dynamics of sodium atoms behind a meteor. Finally, they are determining these trails' feasibility for gravity wave studies.