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(meteorobs) Leonid 'gusts' -the 1997 Japanese video!!
Hello Joe, Rob and David,
I have a suggestion regarding the 'gusts' of Leonid meteors mentioned in
the earlier communications. But first; good to see that the idea of
flurries of meteors during the historic meteor storm of 1966 being
responsible for the highest ZHR figures has been picked up. This is
essentially what I have been arguing for some time now as a partial
explanation of the discrepancies, e.g. in that notorious WGN exchange of
a few years ago.
Regarding these 'gusts' of Leonids; in answer to Rob questioning their
authenticity and thinking of an origin in the observer's minds, I cannot
help but think of the video 'gust' that the
Japanese recorded from Hawaii in 1997 -those 150 Leonids that suddenly
poured down in a nice little fan in just one second or so. The most likely
explanation for that remarkable video footage, which cannot be denied
unlike visual reports of such pehnomenon, still is the breakup of a
meteoroid in the pre-luminous part of its trajectory. If such occasions
are typical for 'fresh', perhaps extremely fragile dustgrains (or 'dustbals'
cemented by volatiles -volatile sodium according to Jiri Borovicka's
recent research results, see ACM conference) in the stream, they might be
a general feature of storm peak activity.
- Marco Langbroek
(Dutch Meteor Society)
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Marco Langbroek marcolan@stad.dsldot nl
Faculty of Archaeology meteorites@dmsweb.org
University of Leiden
P.O. Box 9515
2300 RA Leiden
The Netherlands
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