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Re: (meteorobs) Going by logic...



>Any proposed reason for this, Malcolm? Are slower heavy-object burnups
>actually likely to be BRIGHTER than fast ones for some reason?

Lew, as I understand it (which may not necessarily be right), they would be 
brighter due to the fact that they penetrate to a lower level in the 
atmosphere. Note on the height chart of the IMO handbook (Chapter 1 I 
think), that bolide type objects are shown at 10-20 km final elevation. 
This makes sense to me , since they would be less likely to be disrupted by 
dynamic pressure at altitude, due to slower speed, and stronger structure.
Of course that -7 Leonid I saw the light from must have been a decent sized
fluffy chunk. Of course, it did leave a 7 1/2 minute train, so it had 
plenty of material.

Wayne, musing with Lew


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