The Halley comet meteor stream: numerical modelling of its dynamic evolution

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Abstract
The ribbon-like model proposed by McIntosh & Hajduk for the structure of the Halley meteor stream explained many of the features of the Eta Aquarid and Orionid meteor showers. This model is here verified quantitatively by numerically integrating the orbital motion of up to 500 test particles over several millennia. Perturbations by the major planets, the effect of radiation pressure and Poynting–Robertson drag, are all taken into account. The stream cross-section becomes highly elongated in only a few thousand years. Concentrations in the particle distribution are apparent for larger particles. Meteors now seen in the Orionid shower were injected into the stream earlier than a few thousand years ago whereas in the Eta Aquarid shower we see particles released more recently.

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