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Re: (meteorobs) P/2000 G1 & Vgeo
> > Iron meteoroides probably have high thermal conductivity since they are
> made of metals. But stony meteoroids and cometary snow flakes have lower
> thermal conductivity than iron meteoroids, so they will obviously behave
in
> a different way. The thermal conductivity, given a constant meteoroid
size
> for all materials, will then determine how much time is required for the
> meteoroid to reach its boiling point. For a given size the maximum
> luminosity will be reached by the cometary meteoroid. Then come iron and
> stony meteoroids. Is there a connection between the thermal conductivity
of
> a meteoroid - the rate at which the material will absorb the thermal
energy
> and the luminosity of the meteor?
> >
> > Perhaps the iron meteoroids produce less luminous meteors because they
> absorb the thermal energy of the ionized gas that envelops them quicker
than
> cometary meteoroids, thus reducing the amount of ionization and thus the
> luminosity?
> >
> > Man, I'm waaay off, and probably way off truth as well.
>
> I believe you're only partly off. I can see that a meteor's luminosity
would
> be inversely proportional to its thermal conductivity because of the
amount
> of ionized gas that stays around it. But if that is so, then stony
meteors
> would be closer in brightness to cometary than to iron meteors.
Perhaps it has something to do with the hardness and consistency
of the meteoroid. Cometary meteoroids are broken up by the friction
and that increases the area of the meteoroid, increasing the amount
of ionization and so the meteor's brightness.
Stony meteoroids are more similar to iron than to cometary meteoroids
in terms of mechanical strength of the material. They do not break up
so easily and are in this way more similar to iron meteoroids. If this
is indeed so, then this indicates that the major factor determining the
brightness of the meteor is the surface area and not the thermal
conductivity
of the meteoroid?
Of course, we shouldn't forget the speed of the meteoroid, which is also
a major factor!!
Clear skies!
Jure A.
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