Observations of Leonids 2009 by the Tajikistan Fireball Network

The fireball network in Tajikistan has operated since 2009. Five stations of the network covering the territory of near eleven thousands square kilometers are equipped with all-sky cameras with the Zeiss Distagon "fish-eye" objectives and by digital SLR cameras Nikon with the Nikkor "fish-eye" objectives. Observations of the Leonid activity in 2009 were carried out during November 13-21. In this period, 16 Leonid fireballs have been photographed. As a result of astrometric and photometric reductions, the precise data including atmospheric trajectories, velocities, orbits, light curves, photometric masses and densities were determined for 10 fireballs. The radiant positions during the maximum night suggest that the majority of the fireball activity was caused by the annual stream component with only minor contribution from the 1466 trail. According to the PE criterion, the majority of Leonid fireballs belonged to the most fragile and weak fireball group IIIB. However, one detected Leonid belonged to the fireball group I. This is the first detection of an anomalously strong Leonid individual

Data on 824 fireballs observed by the digital cameras of the European Fireball Network in 2017-2018. II. Analysis of orbital and physical properties of centimeter-sized meteoroids

Meteoroids impacting the Earth on a daily basis are fragments of asteroids and comets. By studying fireballs produced during their disintegration in the atmosphere, we can gain information about their source regions and the properties of their parent bodies. In this work, data on 824 fireballs presented in an accompanying paper and catalog are used. We propose a new empirical parameter for the classification of the physical properties of meteoroids, based on the maximum dynamic pressure suffered by the meteoroid in the atmosphere. We then compare the physical and orbital properties of meteoroids. We find that aphelion distance is a better indicator of asteroidal origin than the Tisserand parameter. Meteoroids with aphelia lower than 4.9 AU are mostly asteroidal, with the exception of the Taurids and alpha Capricornids associated with the comets 2P/Encke and 169P/NEAT, respectively. We found another population of strong meteoroids of probably asteroidal origin on orbits with either high eccentricities or high inclinations, and aphelia up to ~ 7 AU. Among the meteoroid streams, the Geminids and eta Virginids are the strongest, and Leonids and alpha Capricornids the weakest. We found fine orbital structures within the Geminid and Perseid streams. Four minor meteoroid streams from the working list of the International Astronomical Union were confirmed. No meteoroid with perihelion distance lower than 0.07 AU was detected. Spectra are available for some of the fireballs, and they enabled us to identify several iron meteoroids and meteoroids deficient in sodium. Recognition and frequency of fireballs leading to meteorite falls is also discussed.Comment: accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The desert fireball network: A new camera network in the western Australian Nullarbor

Accepted versio

Detection of an intergalactic meteor particle with the 6-m telescope

On July 28, 2006 the 6-m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences recorded the spectrum of a faint meteor. We confidently identify the lines of FeI and MgI, OI, NI and molecular-nitrogen N_2 bands. The entry velocity of the meteor body into the Earth's atmosphere estimated from radial velocity is equal to 300 km/s. The body was several tens of a millimeter in size, like chondrules in carbon chondrites. The radiant of the meteor trajectory coincides with the sky position of the apex of the motion of the Solar system toward the centroid of the Local Group of galaxies. Observations of faint sporadic meteors with FAVOR TV CCD camera confirmed the radiant at a higher than 96% confidence level. We conclude that this meteor particle is likely to be of extragalactic origin. The following important questions remain open: (1) How metal-rich dust particles came to be in the extragalactic space? (2) Why are the sizes of extragalactic particles larger by two orders of magnitude (and their masses greater by six orders of magnitude) than common interstellar dust grains in our Galaxy? (3) If extragalactic dust surrounds galaxies in the form of dust (or gas-and-dust) aureoles, can such formations now be observed using other observational techniques (IR observations aboard Spitzer satellite, etc.)? (4) If inhomogeneous extragalactic dust medium with the parameters mentioned above actually exists, does it show up in the form of irregularities on the cosmic microwave background (WMAP etc.)?Comment: 9 pages, 6 EPS figure

Bioimprint Mediated Label-Free Isolation of Pancreatic Tumor Cells from a Healthy Peripheral Blood Cell Population

New techniques are required for earlier diagnosis and response to treatment of pancreatic cancer. Here, a label-free approach is reported in which circulating pancreatic tumor cells are isolated from healthy peripheral blood cells via cell bioimprinting technology. The method involves pre-fabrication of pancreatic cell layers and sequential casting of cell surfaces with a series of custom-made resins to produce negative cell imprints. The imprint is functionalized with a combination of polymers to engineer weak attraction to the cells which is further amplified by the increased area of contact with the matching cells. A flow-through bioimprint chip is designed and tested for selectivity toward two pancreatic tumor cell lines, ASPC-1 and Mia-PaCa-2. Healthy human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) are spiked with pancreatic tumor cells at various concentrations. Bioimprints are designed for preferential retention of the matching pancreatic tumor cells and with respect to PBMCs. Tumor bioimprints are capable of capturing and concentrating pancreatic tumor cells from a mixed cell population with increased retention observed with the number of seedings. ASPC-1 bioimprints preferentially retain both types of pancreatic tumor cells. This technology could be relevant for the collection and interrogation of liquid biopsies, early detection, and relapse monitoring of pancreatic cancer patients

Twenty-four vs. forty-eight weeks of re-therapy with interferon alpha 2b and ribavirin in interferon alpha monotherapy relapsers with chronic hepatitis C.

Roughly 50% of patients with chronic hepatitis C, who relapsed after a previous monotherapy with interferon alpha, will respond in a sustained fashion to 24 weeks of re-therapy with the combination of interferon alpha plus ribavirin. Whether prolonging treatment duration to 48 weeks will further increase sustained response rates remains ill defined. In this randomised controlled pilot trial we compared the efficacy and tolerability of a 24 week with that of a 48 week course of combination therapy with interferon alpha and ribavirin in interferon monotherapy relapsers with chronic hepatitis C. Interferon alpha monotherapy relapsers with chronic hepatitis C were randomised to receive interferon alpha 2b (3 x 3 MIU sc weekly) and oral ribavirin (1000/1200 mg po daily) for either 24 weeks or 48 weeks. Virological response was evaluated by HCV RNA PCR at week 10 (initial response), at the end of treatment (end of- treatment response) and at the end of 24 weeks follow-up (sustained response). Only patients with negative HCV RNA at week 10 continued treatment. Adverse events were recorded at regular intervals. Thirty-seven patients were enrolled, 19 (6 females, median age 43) in the 24 week and 18 (5 females, median age 40) in the 48 week treatment arm. Baseline characteristics were similar in both groups. At treatment week 10, 12/19 (63%) in the 24 week group and 14/18 (78%) patients in the 48 week group had lost HCV RNA in serum (p = 0.33). All initial responders remained HCV RNA negative throughout the treatment period. Sustained response rates were 10/19 (53%) in the 24 week group and 13/18 (72%) in the 48 week group (p = 0.31). Three patients discontinued treatment early (two due to moderate adverse events, one due to non-compliance). Dose modifications were necessary in 9 patients, 4 in the 24 week and 5 in the 48 week group for anaemia, neutropenia, nausea and depression, respectively. Prolonging interferon / ribavirin combination therapy in interferon alpha monotherapy relapsers with chronic hepatitis C from 24 to 48 weeks may increase sustained response rates. Larger controlled trials using pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin in relapsers with chronic hepatitis C seem warranted

Data on 824 fireballs observed by the digital cameras of the European Fireball Network in 2017-2018. I. Description of the network, data reduction procedures, and the catalog

A catalog of 824 fireballs (bright meteors), observed by a dedicated network of all-sky digital photographic cameras in central Europe in the years 2017-2018 is presented. The status of the European Fireball Network, established in 1963, is described. The cameras collect digital images of meteors brighter than an absolute magnitude of about -2 and radiometric light curves with a high temporal resolution of those brighter than a magnitude ~ -4. All meteoroids larger than 5 grams, corresponding to sizes of about 2 cm, are detected regardless of their entry velocity. High-velocity meteoroids are detected down to masses of about 0.1 gram. The largest observed meteoroid in the reported period 2017-2018 had a mass of about 100 kg and a size of about 40 cm. The methods of data analysis are explained and all catalog entries are described in detail. The provided data include the fireball date and time, atmospheric trajectory and velocity, the radiant in various coordinate systems, heliocentric orbital elements, maximum brightness, radiated energy, initial and terminal masses, maximum encountered dynamic pressure, physical classification, and possible shower membership. Basic information on the fireball spectrum is available for some bright fireballs (apparent magnitude < -7). A simple statistical evaluation of the whole sample is provided. The scientific analysis is presented in an accompanying paper.Comment: accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The Puerto Lapice eucrite fall phenomenon

The fall of the Pu erto Lápice eucrite occurred in the afternoon of May 10, 2007, 17h57m20±2s UTC. This impressive daylight bolide was witnessed by thousands of people from Spain, and is being carefully studied in the framework of the Spanish Meteor and Fireball Network (SPMN) in a similar way that we previously did after the fall of the Villalbeto de la Peña L6 or dinary chondrite [1,2]. Unfortunately, there is no video records to our knowledge of the Puerto Lápice even t, but some eyewitnesses were able to take pictures of the persistent train from at least two different locations. Nocturn astrometric calibrations from both places have been obtained, and these data together with in situ trajectory measurements with theodolite of casual eyewitnesses have allowed to estimate the atmo spheric trajectory and the radiant with reasonable accu racy. A preliminary trajectory reconstruction by the SPMN obtained only two weeks after the event helped to recover the first meteorite specimens. The meteorite was presented on June 11, 2007 during the International Conference Meteoroids 2007 in Barcelona. In addition to the fall phenomena, the interest of this bolide lies in the eucrite nature of the recovered meteorite, that has been recently reported in the Meteoritical Bulletin [3]. Of the 200 eucrites known until 2000, only 25 correspond to observed falls, but the fall circumstances are poorly known except in few remarkable cases like e.g. Pasamonte

Formation of plasma around a small meteoroid: 1. Kinetic theory

This article is a companion to Dimant and Oppenheim [2017] https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA023963.This paper calculates the spatial distribution of the plasma responsible for radar head echoes by applying the kinetic theory developed in the companion paper. This results in a set of analytic expressions for the plasma density as a function of distance from the meteoroid. It shows that at distances less than a collisional mean free path from the meteoroid surface, the plasma density drops in proportion to 1/R where R is the distance from the meteoroid center; and, at distances much longer than the mean‐free‐path behind the meteoroid, the density diminishes at a rate proportional to 1/R2. The results of this paper should be used for modeling and analysis of radar head echoes.This work was supported by NSF grant AGS-1244842. (AGS-1244842 - NSF