The δ-Cancrids Meteor Complex.

In studying the connections of the δ-Cancrids (DCA) meteor stream, consisting of the northern (NCC) and southern (SCC) branches, with the comet–asteroid complex, the structure of the shower was studied using visual and television observations. According to visual observations, it was found that for meteors with a minimum recorded stellar magnitude of +3m and brighter, the maximum of activity ZHR = 8.6 ± 1.8 is observed at the Sun's longitude 298.5° ± 1.2°, while the parameter r of the luminosity function during the period of the shower activity varies in the range of 1.5–2.0. For meteors weaker than +3m, the moment of maximum occurs 1.4° later than for brighter meteors. For the orbits of meteors of the NCC and SCC branches, obtained from television observations, the dependence of the values of the semimajor axes and eccentricities on the mass of meteoroids was also revealed. The orbit separation time for the δ-Cancrid meteors in the meteor magnitude range from 0m to +3m due to the nongravitational Poynting–Robertson effect is 22–26 thousand years for the southern branch SCC, and 24–29 thousand years for the northern branch NCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]