Near-Earth Asteroids as the parents of the $\delta$-Cancrid Meteoroid Stream

TL;DR

This study identifies near-Earth asteroids as the likely dormant remnants of a parent comet responsible for the δ-Cancrid meteoroid stream, linking specific NEAs to observable meteor showers and suggesting a common origin.

Contribution

The paper demonstrates a method to associate NEAs with meteor streams through orbital evolution analysis, identifying 13 NEAs as the dormant remnants of a disintegrated parent comet.

Findings

13 NEAs are linked to the δ-Cancrid meteoroid stream.

The NEAs likely originate from a comet disintegrated over 12,000 years ago.

Active meteor showers match theoretical predictions based on NEA orbits.

Abstract

The $\delta$-Cancrid meteoroid stream forms four active meteor showers which are observable on the Earth annually during January-February and August-September. The stream's definite parent comet has not been established. We performed a search for near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) associated with this stream. We have followed the backward evolution of the orbital elements of a sample of NEAs and found their orbits at the Earth-crossing positions. Using these orbits, we alculated the theoretical parameters of meteor showers associated with the considered NEAs. We carried out our search for observable active showers that match theoretically predicted ones with published data, and the result turned out that the predicted meteor showers of 13 NEAs were identified with the active showers produced by the $\delta$-Cancrid meteoroid stream. The comet-like orbits of NEAs and established association with active meteor showers indicate their common cometary origin. The NEAs considered are moving within the stream and likely represent the dormant remnants of a parent comet of the $\delta$-Cancrid asteroid-meteoroid complex disintegrated more than 12 thousand years ago.