Browsing by Author "Srama, Ralf"

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Open Access
Analysis of the technical biases of meteor video cameras used in the CILBO system
(2017) Albin, Thomas; Koschny, Detlef; Molau, Sirko; Srama, Ralf; Poppe, Björn
In this paper, we analyse the technical biases of two intensified video cameras, ICC7 and ICC9, of the double-station meteor camera system CILBO (Canary Island Long-Baseline Observatory). This is done to thoroughly understand the effects of the camera systems on the scientific data analysis. We expect a number of errors or biases that come from the system: instrumental errors, algorithmic errors and statistical errors. We analyse different observational properties, in particular the detected meteor magnitudes, apparent velocities, estimated goodness-of-fit of the astrometric measurements with respect to a great circle and the distortion of the camera. We find that, due to a loss of sensitivity towards the edges, the cameras detect only about 55 % of the meteors it could detect if it had a constant sensitivity. This detection efficiency is a function of the apparent meteor velocity. We analyse the optical distortion of the system and the "goodness-of-fit" of individual meteor position measurements relative to a fitted great circle. The astrometric error is dominated by uncertainties in the measurement of the meteor attributed to blooming, distortion of the meteor image and the development of a wake for some meteors. The distortion of the video images can be neglected. We compare the results of the two identical camera systems and find systematic differences. For example, the peak magnitude distribution for ICC9 is shifted by about 0.2–0.4 mag towards fainter magnitudes. This can be explained by the different pointing directions of the cameras. Since both cameras monitor the same volume in the atmosphere roughly between the two islands of Tenerife and La Palma, one camera (ICC7) points towards the west, the other one (ICC9) to the east. In particular, in the morning hours the apex source is close to the field-of-view of ICC9. Thus, these meteors appear slower, increasing the dwell time on a pixel. This is favourable for the detection of a meteor of a given magnitude.
Open Access
Modelling cometary meteoroid stream traverses of the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft en route to Phobos
(2021) Krüger, Harald; Kobayashi, Masanori; Strub, Peter; Moragas-Klostermeyer, Georg; Sommer, Maximilian; Kimura, Hiroshi; Grün, Eberhard; Srama, Ralf
The Martian Moons Exploration (MMX) spacecraft is a JAXA mission to Mars and its moons Phobos and Deimos. MMX will be equipped with the Circum-Martian Dust Monitor (CMDM) which is a newly developed light-weight (650g) large area (1m2) dust impact detector. Cometary meteoroid streams (also referred to as trails) exist along the orbits of comets, forming fine structures of the interplanetary dust cloud. The streams consist predominantly of the largest cometary particles (with sizes of approximately 100μm to 1 cm) which are ejected at low speeds and remain very close to the comet orbit for several revolutions around the Sun. The Interplanetary Meteoroid Environment for eXploration (IMEX) dust streams in space model is a new and recently published universal model for cometary meteoroid streams in the inner Solar System. We use IMEX to study the detection conditions of cometary dust stream particles with CMDM during the MMX mission in the time period 2024 to 2028. The model predicts traverses of 12 cometary meteoroid streams with fluxes of 100μm and bigger particles of at least 10-3m-2day-1 during a total time period of approximately 90 days. The highest flux of 0.15m-2day-1 is predicted for comet 114P/Wiseman-Skiff in October 2026. With its large detection area and high sensitivity CMDM will be able to detect cometary meteoroid streams en route to Phobos. Our simulation results for the Mars orbital phase of MMX also predict the occurrence of meteor showers in the Martian atmosphere which may be observable from the Martian surface with cameras on board landers or rovers. Finally, the IMEX model can be used to study the impact hazards imposed by meteoroid impacts onto large-area spacecraft structures that will be particularly necessary for crewed deep space missions.
Open Access
Upgrades of a small electrostatic dust accelerator at the University of Stuttgart
(2023) Li, Yanwei; Bauer, Marcel; Kelz, Sebastian; Strack, Heiko; Simolka, Jonas; Mazur, Christian; Sommer, Maximilian; Mocker, Anna; Srama, Ralf
In this paper, we describe the upgrade of a small electrostatic dust accelerator located at the University of Stuttgart. The newly developed dust source, focusing lens, differential detector and linac stage were successfully installed and tested in the beam line. The input voltage range of the dust source was extended from 0-20 kV to 0-30 kV. A newly developed dust detector with two differential charge sensitive amplifiers is employed to monitor particles with speeds from several m/s to several km/s and with surface charges above 0.028 fC. The post-stage linac provides an additional acceleration ability with a total voltage of up to 120 kV. The entire system of this dust accelerator works without protection gas and without a complex high voltage terminal. The volumes to be pumped down are small and can be quickly evacuated. The new system was used to accelerate micron- and submicron-sized metal particles or coated mineral materials. Improvements in the acceleration system allow for a wider variety of dust materials and new applications.