Quantitative model of the release of sodium from meteoroids in the vicinity of the Sun: Application to Geminids

David Čapek , Jiří Borovička

A considerable depletion of sodium was observed in Geminid meteoroids. To explain this phenomenon, we developed a quantitative model of sodium loss from meteoroids due to solar heating. We found that sodium can be lost completely from Geminid meteoroids after several thousands of years when they are composed of grains with sizes up to ∼100 μm. The observed variations of sodium abundances in Geminid meteor spectra can be explained by differences in the grain sizes among these meteoroids. Sodium depletions are also to be expected for other meteoroid streams with perihelion distances smaller than ∼0.2 AU.

Mots clés: Meteors; Interplanetary dust; Mineralogy

David Čapek, Jiří Borovička. Quantitative model of the release of sodium from meteoroids in the vicinity of the Sun: Application to Geminids. Icarus, 2009, 202 (2), pp.361. ⟨10.1016/j.icarus.2009.02.034⟩. ⟨hal-00554487⟩