(meteorobs) Imagining ourselves following a vehicle along a dusty road...

Watt, Alex Alex.Watt at thecrownestate.co.uk
Mon Feb 20 05:28:54 EST 2006


Hello all, I am a new member of the mailing list, and I have a question
which has built up in my mind and which I wondered if I might empty into
your gracious inboxes, with permission.

Its about radiants. Now as I understand it, meteor showers are the
product of the intersection of our spherical earth with a somewhat
cylindrical region of comet/asteroid debris. This being the case, how is
it that meteors appear to radiate from a single point in the sky? I
would have imagined that they would appear from along a path in the sky
that is traced out by the length of the debris trail. The only time I
would expect meteors to come from a single point at any one time would
be if the path of the comet/asteroid was very similar to that taken by
the earths orbit, then it would appear like we were following a jet's
vapour trail through the sky, or a vehicle along a dusty track, which in
each case would produce a 'radiant' or source of material which was a
single point. 

Any illumination would be really gratefully received - or a point to
some existing explanation that is out there.

Regards,

Alex Watt


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