(meteorobs) Perseid pix

[Ed Majden]

on 8/15/05 20:31, bmccurdy at telusplanet.net at bmccurdy at telusplanet.net
wrote:

> Quick question #2: the fact (?) that it's oxygen suggests an atmospheric,
> rather than meteoric, origin. I always thought that colours in meteors were
> generated by the incoming particles themselves. Wrong again?
> 
> Bruce
> 
Hi Bruce:
    Sorry, I forgot your first name or I would have included it along with
Mike. Don't forget that the incoming meteoric particles/atoms are colliding
with atmospheric particles/atoms so they emit their own light.  Atmospheric
nitrogen, oxygen, etc.  There could be other contaminants floating around up
there also with their own contribution.  Sorting this out I expect is very
complex and best left to professionals that understand this sort of thing.
Meteors were in fact a way of studying the upper atmosphere before rocket
probes etc.  A poor mans upper atmosphere probe so to speak.  Peter Millman
in fact headed the Upper Atmosphere Research Section of the National
Research Council of Canada.
Ed