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Re: (meteorobs) curving meteors?
>A friend has a picture of a Leonid that shows a definite curve at
>the end of its flight. This doesn't appear to be a drifting train,
>because the exposure wasn't that long and only one small part of it
>was curved. Is there any good explanation for this?
Jim, keep in mind that wind sheers need not be uniform - so much will
depend on the penetration altitude, incidence angle and other factors
specific to each meteor. But I know during that 1998 Leonid "fireball
shower", we saw many meteors whose trains would show UNIQUE internal
motions for up to several minutes after the meteor: imagining a train
which was ONLY diverted near the very end of the meteor's penetration,
where the atmosphere was at its thickest along the path and high wind
would have the greatest effect, is not hard.
Of course, who can say for certain in this one instance? But the fact
that it WAS a Leonid though - and was therefore very likely less dense
than water, and was entering our atmosphere at 150,000 mph - makes you
wonder how it could remain intact under the force needed to divert it?
Lew
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