Observations of an Unexpected Meteor Shower Outburst at High Ecliptic Southern Latitude and Its Potential Origin

Abstract

A strong and unexpected meteor shower outburst was observed by the Southern Argentina Agile MEteor Radar Orbital System (SAAMER-OS) at high southern ecliptic latitude within the South Toroidal region. The outburst, which was active throughout solar longitudes 351° and 352°, peaked at 09:30 UT on 2020 March 12, has a mean Sun-centered ecliptic radiant of λ − λ₀ ~ 3075 and β ~ −772 and a geocentric velocity of 30.7 km s⁻¹. Using the parameter criterion, we find the corresponding orbital elements of the outburst to match well with both the β Tucanid and δ Mensid meteor showers, suggesting these are in fact the same shower. We also find a promising parent candidate in asteroid (248590) 2006 CS, a large (D ~ 2 km) highly inclined 52° near-Earth object.