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Re: (meteorobs) definition of terms
I agree with what Malcolm Currie states, and what the late great C.P. Olivier
also often mentioned. People seem to get trains and trails mixed up. Every
meteor has a trail, but only certain meteors (like many bright Orionids and
Leonids) have trains. Usually the brighter and faster meteors have trains.
A wake is a train that lasts less than a second, which meteors of any speed
can have sometimes. Again, all meteors have trails, but only some have ion-
ized trains or wakes. This is the way I understand it anyway. I've been a
meteor observer since the Perseids in 1961. Lets hope we all see many trails
that have trains for the current Orionids and the upcoming King of the Meteor
Showers, the Leonids.
Good Meteor Observing!
GWG
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