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Re: (meteorobs) Re: The Leonid Meteor Outburst of 1997

Lew,
I must admit ignorance of any theories of micro-fine structure in the
Leonids.  It would surprise me greatly that these could be formed in a
resonance but a recent breakup of a large particle would certainly do the
trick.  Even if such structures exist, there is the observational problem
that because the Earth passes through such structures in a skew path, the
structure passes from south to north at a speed of about 600km/min.  It
would be a real challenge for observational data to be collected about 
such an occurrence.  The Greenwich observations in 1866 could conceivably
show some fine structure, but that data may not be reliable.  David Asher
and I discuss the topocentric effects for the Leonids (and in general) in
an article submitted to Meteorit. Planet. Sci. and the next WGN should
also have a brief discussion of it.

Cheers, Rob

Robert H. McNaught
rmn@aaocbn.aaodot gov.au

On Mon, 19 Jul 1999, Lew Gramer wrote:

> 
> Rob McNaught wrote:
> >it should be noted that as the Earth passes through such a narrow line of
> >debris the resulting meteors will show a pronounced trend in where they
> >occur. The line of debris that intersects the Earth basically moves north
> >in the case of a Leonid that breaks up.
> 
> Rob, this brings up another question which I've not heard much about lately
> (or perhaps I've missed in all the recent Leonid discussions and papers?)
> For some time, theorists seemed to be playing with the idea that there may
> be persistent, VERY fine-scale structures in the Leonid meteoroid stream:
> I believe these were known as "microfilaments"?
> 
> What's the current status of observational evidence and theory for these
> strange, tiny, persistent structures? Maybe Dr. Jenniskens or Dr. Hawkes
> could help fill in the list on the latest in this research - as well as
> Joe Rao or Dr. Brown, whom I've also enticingly cc'd on this one...  :)
> 
> Clear skies all!
> Lew Gramer
> 
> 
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