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Fireballs o' Doom (was Re: (meteorobs) http://www.flatoday.com/space/today/021698f.htm)
>Could all these fireballs be the precursors to the big rock?
>Is an extinction period beating at our door in the form of
>mounting numbers of bolides?
Yipes, Victor! Well, before we all run out screaming to buy bolide pills,
can I ask what this last statement is based on? Are there some studies I
haven't heard about positing increased meteorite impact and/or fireball
instances?
(By the way, that brings up another point to keep in mind: increased
fireballs won't necessarily correlate with increased meteorites at all!
Fireballs usually result from only relatively massive objects, whose
density or composition are NOT conducive to their surviving atmospheric
entry.)
This could be a general question to the list: have any of the more
experienced long-term observers noticed an upswing in fireballs this past
10, 20, or 30 years? (NORMAN & BOB: this question's especially directed at
you!) Do any of our AMS or European subscribers know of such results in the
meteorics literature?
If there ARE studies pointing in the direction of increased fireball
activity (or increased meteorite incidence), I'd genuinely love to see
references on them! This would seem a pretty significant find. Pointers
appreciated...
Clear skies,
Lew