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Cameras for All-Sky Meteor Surveillance

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CAMS

Cameras for All-Sky Surveillance
The CAMS station at Lick Observatory, in California, setup in April 2011. The CAMS box at the top contains the cameras.
Mission statementCAMS is an automated video surveillance of the night sky to validate the IAU Working List of Meteor Showers.
Commercial?No
LocationGlobal
FounderPeter Jenniskens
Established10 October 2010 (2010-10-10)
FundingPublic Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Statusactive
Websitewww.seti.org/cams

CAMS (the Cameras for All-Sky Surveillance project) is a NASA-sponsored international project that tracks night-time video surveillance to map and monitor meteor showers, and is housed at the Carl Sagan Center of the SETI Institute [1] in California, USA. CAMS [2] networks around the world use an array of low-light video surveillance cameras to collect astrometric tracks and brightness profiles of meteors in the night sky. Triangulation of those tracks results in the meteor's direction and speed, from which the meteors’ orbit in space is calculated and the material’s parent body can be identified. Its goal is to validate the International Astronomical Union’s Working List of Meteor Showers, discover new meteor showers, and predict future meteor showers.

The CAMS camera networks contain cameras situated on the ground, rather than moving satellites. These cameras come alive post the sunset daily and start collecting video data. CAMS has automated video-based triangulation of meteors. Through a series of computational and statistical algorithms, each streak of light in the video is identified and the track is verified as being a meteor or belonging to another light source like planes, or light reflected from moving clouds, birds, and bats. Networks of cameras are located in the USA (California, Arizona, Texas, Arkansas, Maryland, and Florida), the BeNeLux (Netherlands), the United Arab Emirates, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Namibia, and Chile. Each network consists of several different stations from which the meteors are filmed. The first CAMS platforms were set up in October 2010 at Fremont Peak Observatory and Mountain View, followed in April 2011 by a station at Lick Observatory, in California, and have since expanded to 19 locations worldwide. As of Feb 17, 2021, CAMS has helped establish [3] 92 out of 112 single showers [4] and recognized 323 out of 700 meteor showers in the Working List.

CAMS Notable contributions

Using a meteor shower to measure the orbital period of a comet

  • In April 2019, CAMS New Zealand station detected a brief outburst of 5 meteors from comet C/1907 G1 (Grigg-Mellish)[5]. The timing of the outburst was used to refine the comet orbit. Based on the 1907 observations of the comet orbit alone, valid solutions showed a strong correlation between node and orbital period due to an uncertain distance between comet and observer.

Predicting the existence of a previously unknown comet by detecting its trail of crumbs

  • In April 2020, the Phi Serpentid shower (International Astronomical Union Shower number 839), a shower in the Serpens constellation was traced back to the orbit of an unknown long-period comet [6] [7].
  • On February 4, 2011, CAMS picked up meteor shower likely caused by crumbs dropped from an undiscovered comet originating from the direction of the star Eta Draconis resulting in the new shower called the February Eta Draconids (FEDs) [8]

Help astronomers locate the site of freshly fallen meteorites

  • 2012 April 22, Impact and Recovery of the Sutter's Mill meteorite: Approximately 79 meteorites were recovered [9] [10]
  • 2012, Novato meteorite that generated sonic booms was detected by CAMS [11], and retrieved by local resident Lisa Webber following publication of tracking information. The meteorite was identified as a L6 type chondrite fragmental breccia. [12] [13]
  • In 2016, fragments of a small asteroid above Arizona were captured by a CAMS Lowell Observatory [14]. The recovery of the fragments in the Apache White Mountain reservation showed the meteorite’s origins to be the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
  • Locating meteorites at Misfits Flat dry lake, Nevada by Scott Harlan, Peter Jenniskens and others from a CAMS detected fireballs in September 2013-2015[15]. CAMS reports "Initially the local conditions were too harsh to continue search for fallen meteorites. He then diverted to the nearest dry lake bed and found a meteorite within two hours. He went back 19 times and recovered 58 meteorites and meteorite fragments." [16]
  • CAMS Arizona captured a 20 magnitude fireball from which 15 meteorites were recovered [17].
  • Creston fall in 2015, several L6 ordinary chondrite meteorites recovered [18] [19]


Discovery of new meteor showers
Meteor Shower Name International Astronomical Union Code International Astronomical Union Shower number
gamma Crucids[20] GCR 1047
29 Piscids [21] PIS 1046
September upsilon Taurids[22] SUT 1045
chi Phoenicids [23] CPH 1036
gamma Piscis Austrinids [24] GPA 1034
sigma Phenicids [25] SPH 1035
chi Cygnids[26] CCY 757
Volantids[27] VOL 758
December alpha Bootids [28] DAB 497


Monitoring unusual activity meteor showers

  • In 2020, a significant meteor activity from A-Carinid, an otherwise weak annual shower was detected by CAMS [29]
  • 2020 CAMS discovered meteors of chi Phoenicids, a new long-period comet [30]
  • 2020 and 2016, Outburst of Ursids caused by the 1076 A.D. dust of comet 8P/Tuttle [31] [32]
  • 2020 CAMS detected delta Mensid shower and identified a minor planet 2006 CS as the probable parent body [33]
  • 2020 CAMS detected rho Phoenicids
  • 2020 CAMS picked early sightings of chi Cygnids in August, which resulted in speculation that the shower will return, since its last sighting in 2015. The shower indeed returned and was observed in detail in September. [34] [35]
  • 2019 CAMS detected an outburst of 15 Bootids, whose orbital elements resemble those of bright comet C/539 W1 [36] [37] Researchers also concluded that this meteor shower was caused by the same bright comet as was described in Histories of the Wars, an 553 A.D. book, and in 2019 the comet appeared to be on its way back.
  • 2019 CAMS captured an outburst of June epsilon Ophiuchids, with parent body as periodic Jupiter Family comet 300P/Catalina [38]
  • 2019 CAMS detected an outburst of Phoenicids from comet Blanpain
  • 2019 The alpha Monocerotid outburst ("the unicorn shower") was observed by the CAMS but its intensity was less than expected. According to Jenniskens "This suggests we crossed the dust trail further from the trail center than anticipated." [39]
  • 2018 CAMS captured an outburst of Draconids and the October Camelopardalids
  • 2017, December 13 - CAMS captured 3003 Geminids and 1154 sporadic meteors which shattered all previous records on the number of meteors detected in a single night [40]
  • 2011 eta Eridanids (ERI) from comet C/1852 K1 (Charcornac)
  • In 2011 CAMS observed the 2011 Draconid meteor shower. First results from 28 Draconid trajectories and orbits show that the meteors originated from the 1900 dust ejecta of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
  • 2011 CAMS detected the April Rho Cygnids (ARC), originally discovered by the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR)
  • Major fireball activity including the 2013 January 17 Sierra Nevada fireball, 2013 February 16 San Francisco Bay Area fireball, 2013 October 22 Bay Area fireball, 2014 January 10 Tranquillity fireball, 2014 March 05 Tranquillity fireball, two slow-moving fireballs in November 2014 in New Zealand, 2014 December 29 Sunnyvale, 2015 February 28 Sunnyvale, 2015 August 27 Greenfield and King City fireball, 2015 October 24 bright Sunnyvale fireball, 2017 January 3 Belgium fireball, 2019 November 28 Chile fireball.
  • gamma Draconids detected by CAMS [41]
  • CAMS captured 12 meteors from an outburst of October Camelopardalids (OCT) [42]
  • 2017 Earth traveled through the 1-revolution dust trail of a long-period comet C/2015 D4 (Borisov). Jenniskens noted that "Only about once every 25 years is such an intermediate long-period comet discovered that passes close enough to Earth's orbit to have dust trail encounters. This one passed perihelion in 2014." [43]. CAMS South Africa network captured 167 meteors.

Visualization and data access

  • CAMS has an online portal at cams.seti.org/FDL/, built by Frontier Development Lab, where data is globally and publicly accessible through daily generated maps of meteor shower activity, offering citizen scientists the opportunity to engage with data.

See also

  • Asteroid 42981 Jenniskens is named after Dr. Peter Jenniskens
  • The International Astronomical Union named main belt asteroids after CAMS team members Pete Gural [44] and Jim Albers [45] at the 2014 Asteroids, Comets, Meteors conference.
  • The New York Times published a story on CAMS's meteoroid stream visualization tool [46]
  • The Japanese broadcasting company NHK filmed the CAMS station at Lick Observatory for a documentary
  • Nature News mentioned the impact of CAMS as "Eighty-six previously unknown have now joined the regular spectaculars, which include the Perseids, Leonids and Geminids." [47]
  • Frontier Development Lab built an AI pipeline [48] and data visualization dashboard [49] for CAMS.

References

  1. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  2. ^ Jenniskens, P.; Gural, P. S.; Dynneson, L.; Grigsby, B. J.; Newman, K. E.; Borden, M.; Koop, M.; Holman, D. (1 November 2011). "CAMS: Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance to establish minor meteor showers". Icarus. 216 (1): 40–61. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2011.08.012. ISSN 0019-1035.
  3. ^ Jenniskens, P.; Nénon, Q.; Albers, J.; Gural, P. S.; Haberman, B.; Holman, D.; Morales, R.; Grigsby, B. J.; Samuels, D.; Johannink, C. (1 March 2016). "The established meteor showers as observed by CAMS". Icarus. 266: 331–354. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.09.013. ISSN 0019-1035. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  4. ^ Jenniskens, P.; Nénon, Q.; Gural, P. S.; Albers, J.; Haberman, B.; Johnson, B.; Holman, D.; Morales, R.; Grigsby, B. J.; Samuels, D.; Johannink, C. (1 March 2016). "CAMS confirmation of previously reported meteor showers". Icarus. 266: 355–370. doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2015.08.014. ISSN 0019-1035. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Southern Hemisphere Meteor Outburst". SETI Institute. SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  6. ^ "Unusual Activity of the Phi Serpentid Meteor Shower". SETI Institute. SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Phi Serpentids (PSR#839) activity enhancement". Meteor News. Meteor News. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  8. ^ Wall, Mike. "Evidence Found for Undiscovered Comet That May Threaten Earth". Space.com. Space.com. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  9. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Sutter's Mill Meteorite Consortium main page". asima.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  11. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  12. ^ "Novato Meteorite Consortium main page". asima.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  13. ^ Hoover, Rachel (15 August 2014). "NASA, Partners Reveal California Meteorite's Rough and Tumble Journey". NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  14. ^ "2016 Arizona Meteorite Fall Points Researchers to Source of LL Chondrites". SETI Institute. SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  15. ^ Harlan, Scott; Jenniskens, Peter; Zolensky, Michael E.; Yin, Qing-Zhu; Verosub, Kenneth L.; Rowland, Douglas J.; Sanborn, Matthew; Huyskens, Magdalena; Creager, Emily R.; Jull, A. J. Timothy (2016). "Meteorites found on Misfits Flat dry lake, Nevada". Meteoritics & Planetary Science. 51 (4): 757–772. doi:10.1111/maps.12619. ISSN 1945-5100.
  16. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  17. ^ "Arizona Fireball Update – Meteorite Found by ASU Team!". Arizona State University. Arizona State University. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Meteoritical Bulletin: Entry for Creston". www.lpi.usra.edu. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  20. ^ "OUTBURST OF GAMMA CRUCIDS IN 2021 (GCR, IAU#1047)". meteornews. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  21. ^ "NOT SEEN BEFORE: SAME METEOROID STREAM SHOWS UP AGAIN A MONTH LATER". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  22. ^ "The September upsilon Taurid meteor shower and possible previous detections". Meteor News. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  23. ^ "Newly Detected Chi Phoenicid Meteor Shower". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  24. ^ Lee, Angie (20 August 2020). "CAMS System Discovers New Meteor Showers Using AI | NVIDIA Blog". The Official NVIDIA Blog. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  25. ^ Lee, Angie (20 August 2020). "CAMS System Discovers New Meteor Showers Using AI | NVIDIA Blog". The Official NVIDIA Blog. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  26. ^ Jenniskens, P. (1 September 2015). "New Chi Cygnids Meteor Shower". Central Bureau Electronic Telegrams. 4144: 1.
  27. ^ Jenniskens, P.; Baggaley, J.; Crumpton, I.; Aldous, P.; Gural, P. S.; Samuels, D.; Albers, J.; Soja, R. (1 April 2016). "A surprise southern hemisphere meteor shower on New-Year's Eve 2015: the Volantids (IAU#758, VOL)". WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization. 44: 35–41. ISSN 1016-3115. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  28. ^ "A search for December alpha Bootids (497)". Meteor News. 13 March 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  29. ^ "Surprising A-Carinids Shower". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  30. ^ "Newly Detected Chi Phoenicid Meteor Shower". SETI Institute. 22 June 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  31. ^ "Ursids (URS#015) another outburst in 2020?". Meteor News. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  32. ^ http://cams.seti.org/CBET4363.pdf. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  33. ^ "Unusual Activity of the Delta Mensid Meteor Shower". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  34. ^ "CAMS Networks detect possible return of Chi Cygnid meteor shower". SETI Institute. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  35. ^ "Possible upcoming return of the chi Cygnids in September 2020". Meteor News. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  36. ^ http://cams.seti.org/CBET-923.txt. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  37. ^ Jenniskens, Peter; Lyytinen, Esko; Johannink, Carl; Odeh, Mohammad; Moskovitz, Nicholas; Abbott, Timothy M. C. (1 February 2020). "2019 outburst of 15-Bootids (IAU#923, FBO) and search strategy to find the potentially hazardous comet". Planetary and Space Science. 181: 104829. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2019.104829. ISSN 0032-0633. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  38. ^ http://cams.seti.org/CBET-shower459.txt. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  39. ^ "alpha Monocerotids activity but no spectacular outburst". Meteor News. 22 November 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  40. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  41. ^ Verbeeck, Cis. "Short and strong outburst of the gamma Draconids on July 27/28 | IMO". Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  42. ^ "October Camelopardalids by CAMS". Meteor News. 10 December 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  43. ^ "Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS)". cams.seti.org. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  44. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  45. ^ "JPL Small-Body Database Browser". ssd.jpl.nasa.gov. NASA. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  46. ^ Fleur, Nicholas St (24 March 2017). "Visualizing the Cosmic Streams That Spew Meteor Showers (Published 2017)". The New York Times. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  47. ^ Witze, Alexandra (17 September 2015). "Newfound meteor showers expand astronomical calendar". Nature News. Nature News. p. 302. doi:10.1038/525302a. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  48. ^ Zoghbi, Susana; De Cicco, Marcelo; Stapper, Andres P.; Ordoñez, Antonio J.; Collison, Jack; Gural, Peter S.; Ganju, Siddha; Galache, Jose-Luis; Jenniskens, Peter (2017). "Searching for long-period comets with deep learning tools" (PDF): Deep Learning for Physical Science Workshop, NeurIPS. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  49. ^ De Cicco, Marcelo; Zoghbi, Susana; Stapper, Andres P.; Ordoñez, Antonio J.; Collison, Jack; Gural, Peter S.; Ganju, Siddha; Galache, Jose-Luis; Jenniskens, Peter (1 January 2018). "Artificial intelligence techniques for automating the CAMS processing pipeline to direct the search for long-period comets": 65–70. Retrieved 21 February 2021. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)


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