Calculating meteoroid masses from photometric observations relies on; prior knowledge of the luminous efficiency, a parameter that is not well; characterized; reported values vary by several orders of magnitude. We; present results from an experimental campaign to determine the luminous; efficiency as a function of mass, velocity, and composition. Using a; linear electrostatic dust accelerator, iron and aluminum microparticles; were accelerated to 10+ km/s and ablated, and the light production; measured. The luminous efficiency of each event was calculated and; functional forms fit for each species. For both materials, the luminous; efficiency is lowest at low velocities, rises sharply, then falls as; velocity increases. However, the exact shape and magnitude of the curve; is not consistent between the materials. The difference between the; luminous efficiencies for iron and aluminum, particularly at high; velocities, indicates that it is not sufficient to use the same luminous; efficiency for all compositions and velocities.
