PREDNASAJUCI / LECTURER :

Martina Kováčová

NAZOV / TITLE :

A prediction of the collisions of Main Belt asteroids with stream meteoroids

ABSTRAKT / ABSTRACT :

Meteoroid particles can collide with asteroids. If a meteoroid is large, it
can trigger asteroid activity; an outburst of brightness occurs. When the meteoroids
in a stream cross a region of interplanetary space, the flux of these meteoroids is
considerably larger than the flux of sporadic meteoroids. Therefore, the probability
of a collision is significantly larger. We mapped the passages of main-belt asteroids
through the known meteoroid streams. The probability that a given asteroid is hit by
a meteoroid in the timescale of a human life is extremely low. However, we document
that there is a large number of passages of all asteroids through the streams each
year; therefore, a few collisions between asteroids and meteoroids, large enough to
trigger observable activity, may be expected during the lifetime of a human or, possibly,
even during a single year, on average. Even though it is possible none will be observed,
it is expected some will be detected.