Extra-Terrestrial Meteors

TL;DR

This paper reviews the study of extraterrestrial meteors impacting planets and moons, discussing their effects on planetary environments, recent observations, and future research directions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of extraterrestrial meteor impacts across the solar system, highlighting recent events and outlining future research prospects.

Findings

Impact events influence planetary atmospheres and surfaces.

Recent observations of impact flashes on Jupiter and Mars.

Discussion of long-term environmental effects of meteors.

Abstract

All planets and satellites of our solar system are subject to a continuous rain of material, ranging in size from specks of dust to objects the size of boulders. Upon impact, these objects deposit their kinetic energy into the incident surface or atmosphere and affect the environment of the target body in ways not yet well understood. Recent high-profile events - impact flashes on Jupiter and the encounter of comet C/Siding Spring with Mars - brought the study of "extraterrestrial meteors" and their effects into the fore. Here we review the history, status and future prospects of meteor studies on planets other than the Earth. Would bright meteors appear in the atmosphere of Mars and what are the long-term effects on the planet's atmosphere? How do high-speed impacts of particulate matter on the airless surfaces of Mercury and the Moon affect their environment and those of the countless other bodies like them? These are some of the questions we attempt to answer in this Chapter.