An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network
Material arriving at our solar system from the Galaxy may be detected on Earth in the form of meteors ablating in our atmosphere. Here, we report on a search for interstellar meteors within the highest-quality events in the Global Meteor Network (GMN) database. No events were detected that were conc...
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| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2025-01-01
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| Series: | The Astrophysical Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc44f |
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| author | Paul Wiegert Vanessa Tran Cole Gregg Denis Vida Peter Brown |
| author_facet | Paul Wiegert Vanessa Tran Cole Gregg Denis Vida Peter Brown |
| author_sort | Paul Wiegert |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Material arriving at our solar system from the Galaxy may be detected on Earth in the form of meteors ablating in our atmosphere. Here, we report on a search for interstellar meteors within the highest-quality events in the Global Meteor Network (GMN) database. No events were detected that were conclusively hyperbolic with respect to the Sun; however, our search was not exhaustive and examined only the top 57% of events, with a deeper examination planned for future work. This study’s effective meteoroid mass limit is 6.6 ± 0.8 × 10 ^−5 kg (5 mm diameter at a density of 1000 kg m ^−3 ). Theoretical rates of interstellar meteors at these sizes range from 3 to 200 events globally per year. The highest rates can already be largely excluded by this study, while at the lowest rates, GMN would have to observe for 25 more years to be 50% confident of seeing at least one event. GMN is thus well-positioned to provide substantial constraints on the interstellar population at these sizes over the coming years. This study’s results are statistically compatible with a rate of interstellar meteors at the Earth at less than 1 per million meteoroid impacts at Earth at millimeter sizes, or a flux rate of less than 8 ± 2 × 10 ^−11 km ^−2 hr ^−1 at the 95% confidence level. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e01ef10cd354402ca33c388e9b1df149 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 1538-4357 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Astrophysical Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-e01ef10cd354402ca33c388e9b1df1492025-08-20T02:57:02ZengIOP PublishingThe Astrophysical Journal1538-43572025-01-01984215110.3847/1538-4357/adc44fAn Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor NetworkPaul Wiegert0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1914-5352Vanessa Tran1https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7887-1505Cole Gregg2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8927-7708Denis Vida3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4166-8704Peter Brown4https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6130-7039Department of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario , London, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX), The University of Western Ontario , London, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario , London, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX), The University of Western Ontario , London, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario , London, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX), The University of Western Ontario , London, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario , London, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX), The University of Western Ontario , London, CanadaDepartment of Physics and Astronomy, The University of Western Ontario , London, Canada; Institute for Earth and Space Exploration (IESX), The University of Western Ontario , London, CanadaMaterial arriving at our solar system from the Galaxy may be detected on Earth in the form of meteors ablating in our atmosphere. Here, we report on a search for interstellar meteors within the highest-quality events in the Global Meteor Network (GMN) database. No events were detected that were conclusively hyperbolic with respect to the Sun; however, our search was not exhaustive and examined only the top 57% of events, with a deeper examination planned for future work. This study’s effective meteoroid mass limit is 6.6 ± 0.8 × 10 ^−5 kg (5 mm diameter at a density of 1000 kg m ^−3 ). Theoretical rates of interstellar meteors at these sizes range from 3 to 200 events globally per year. The highest rates can already be largely excluded by this study, while at the lowest rates, GMN would have to observe for 25 more years to be 50% confident of seeing at least one event. GMN is thus well-positioned to provide substantial constraints on the interstellar population at these sizes over the coming years. This study’s results are statistically compatible with a rate of interstellar meteors at the Earth at less than 1 per million meteoroid impacts at Earth at millimeter sizes, or a flux rate of less than 8 ± 2 × 10 ^−11 km ^−2 hr ^−1 at the 95% confidence level.https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc44fMeteorsInterstellar objects |
| spellingShingle | Paul Wiegert Vanessa Tran Cole Gregg Denis Vida Peter Brown An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network The Astrophysical Journal Meteors Interstellar objects |
| title | An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network |
| title_full | An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network |
| title_fullStr | An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network |
| title_short | An Upper Limit on the Interstellar Meteoroid Flux at Video Sizes from the Global Meteor Network |
| title_sort | upper limit on the interstellar meteoroid flux at video sizes from the global meteor network |
| topic | Meteors Interstellar objects |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/adc44f |
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