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Re: (meteorobs) meteor speed
Hi, Vink! Thanks for posting that question. Meteors result when a particle
which has been orbiting the sun in its own orbit, happens to intersect the
orbit of the Earth, and happens to be at that intersection point at the exact
moment the Earth is also there!
Naturally, particles orbiting the Sun can have a variety of different orbits:
different eccentricity ("elongation" of the orbital ellipse), inclination
("tilt" of the ellipse relative to the Earth's orbit), semi-major axis (how
"fat" the ellipse is), perihelion distance (closest approach to Sun), etc.
Because particles which hit Earth's atmosphere to form meteors have such a
range of orbits, they also have a wide variety of directions from which they
hit the Earth! And obviously, if a meteoroid particle hits Earth "head-on", it
will have much greater relative speed than one which must "catch up" to Earth.
Similarly the meteoroids will have different orbital speeds, depending on how
close they are to perihelion when they strike us, and other orbital factors.
Obviously, Vink, this is a tough question to answer without being able to draw
pictures! But I hope the above helps a bit? Take care, and clear skies,
Lew Gramer
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