Tom Fleming wrote:
Lew,Your comments regarding Jin Zhu's posting have set me on a tangent of thought regarding the observer's perception. Most of my experience oberving meteors has come by while introducing novice observers to major showers. Invariably while they are assessing the whether the meteor is a shower member or not they will always refer to 'short burn' meteors as 'swift' or very fast'. Indeed, I have heard the same from experienced observers. As well, most of these comments come regarding fainter burns which are seen near the meridian. Of course these observers are really referring to the brief time duration of the burn since all shower members have the same velocity vector. The point being I think, it is more difficult to evaluate short burns than longer burns when it comes to deciding Sporadic or Shower member.Tom