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Re: (meteorobs) P/2000 G1 & Vgeo
Dear meteorobs,
Jim's proof about meteor velocities was terrific and as a physicist myself
I can really appreciate it, but some of our group who may not thrive on the
math can see the problem in a simpler non-mathematical way. Suppose someone
at the moon's distance or greater and traveling around the sun "with" the
earth dropped (or gave a very slight push) on an object sending it toward
the earth. The object would pick up speed as it fell in the earth's
gravitational well and when it arrived at the atmosphere it would be
traveling about 11 km/s. That situation is similar to the case of a meteor
approaching the earth from behind as it orbits around the sun. This is why
there is a minimum velocity for meteors. Since all meteors fall to earth
from beyond the moon, all meteors will reach a velocity of at least 11 km/s.
Hope this helps.
Clear Skies,
Terry
*****************************************
Terry Richardson
Department of Physics and Astronomy
College of Charleston
Charleston, SC 29424
pager #937-1048
843 953-8071 phone
843 953-4824 fax
http://www.cofcdot edu/~richardt/
Office Location: Science Center Room 102
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