DETECTION OF ATOMIC OXYGEN TRAILS OF SMALL COMETS IN THE VICINITY OF EARTH

Transient traits of emissions at far-ultraviolet wavelengths have been detected by the Earth Camera on board the Polar spacecraft. These emi ssions are interpreted in terms of resonantly scattered solar radiatio n from atomic oxygen at 130.4 nm. The temporal durations of the emissi on trails are typically tens of seconds. The maximum brightnesses of t he shorter trails are usually lesser than those of the longer trails w hich indicate that the shorter trails are farther from the spacecraft. The rate of occurrence of these trails is approximately 5 to 10 each day. These events are interpreted as the signatures of the disruption and rapid dissipation of small comets in the vicinity of Earth.