PREDNASAJUCI / LECTURER :

Mária Hajduková

(1) Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
059 60 Tatranská Lomnica

NAZOV / TITLE :

Advancing Meteor Science via IAU MDC and F1 WG


ABSTRAKT / ABSTRACT :

In this presentation, I will introduce our work in (1) the IAU Meteor Data Center (MDC) team and
(2) the IAU Working Group (WG) of Commission F1 on Meteors, Meteorites, and Interplanetary Dust.

The MDC is the single worldwide repository for new meteor shower discoveries and operates at the
Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences under the auspices of the International
Astronomical Union (IAU). The MDC ensures the uniqueness of meteor shower designations and
maintains the official list of all meteor showers. Through its continuously updated website, the
MDC announces newly discovered and newly characterized previously known showers, along with their
evolving status, to global meteor scientist community.
The WG on Meteor Shower Nomenclature of IAU Commission F1 is responsible for evaluating meteor
showers based on the latest research and compiling a descriptive list of well-established showers
eligible for official names assigned by the IAU.

Characterizing a meteor shower is a complex task, given that the dynamics of meteoroid streams
can produce highly structured shower complexes and cause dispersion in shower parameters. With
the rapid increase in observations of minor showers, this task has become even more challenging.
Consequently, many misclassified showers have been submitted to the MDC. In the most recent MDC
team analysis of 835 showers, we identified 7 duplicate showers and more than 50 multi-solution
showers requiring reclassification, which were subsequently evaluated by the WG. We revoked
established status for 10 showers, excluded discrepant parameters for 6, and redesignated one
shower. Other cases have been postponed until more solutions characterizing the showers are
submitted to the MDC. Additionally, 12 showers were newly granted established status.