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(meteorobs) Re: Earth Grazers
Earth Grazers is a term used for long meteors that appear when the
radiant is near the horizon. When the radiant (the area in the sky
where meteors seem to come from) is near the horizon meteoroids
(meteors in space) can only come in contact with the the upper portions
of the Earth's atmosphere. Since the air is thin in the upper atmosphere
these meteors can last much longer than ones that strike the atmosphere
more directly. Therefore from the observers viewpoint on the surface
these Earth Grazers appear to streak across a good portion of the sky
and last for several seconds. These meteors are rare but well worth the
wait to see. My most memorable Earth Grazer was a -2 Leonid that
occurred
in 1996. This particular meteor appeared low in the eastern sky and
traveled nearly all the way to the southwestern horizon. It is certainly
one meteor that I will never forget!
Bob Lunsford
"mut2rash@emiratesdot net.ae" wrote:
>
> Hi, what does Earth Grazers mean? I'm new to astronomy and observing so... :)
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