THE TAURID COMPLEX OF ASTEROIDS

Asteroids similar to observed Taurid complex meteors are discussed fro m the point of view of their orbital elements. The discussion is conce ntrated mainly on the observed concentration of longitudes of periheli a of the asteroids - this nonrandom distribution is currently interpre ted as due to common progenitor(s). It is shown that the observed conc entration of longitudes of perihelia is a consequence of observational selection effects and probably not of physical nature (unless unobser ved orbits with eccentricities approximate to 0.9 can be physically ex plained). The possible origin of the Taurid meteoroid complex is short ly discussed.