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Re: (meteorobs) conventional wisdom



Chris;
        How in the world does one test for randomness, or non randomness particularly with a finite data set?            Clear skies and good observing for you,  Robert Gardner

Chris Crawford wrote:

 Tom, this question is what has been driving my own research. There is now plenty of statistical data demonstrating that the apparent clustering of meteors is in fact temporally random. A truly random distribution of meteors will have some clumps in it, because if it were uniformly distributed, it would be predictable and therefore non-random. So the perception of non-randomness is often deceptive. However, there are several areas of uncertainty. First, we still don't know for sure whether these things are non-random at very small time intervals -- say 10 seconds. There just haven't been enough meteors to decide the issue. Second, there's the matter of a physical model. This is the angle I've been pushing. My experiment was meant to gather data that would (I hoped) decide the question based on the spatial and temporal relationships among the observed meteors. I am currently considering an alternate approach: if I can get data from a number of observers scattered over the country, it might be possible to resolve the question. Based on the poor response I got to my previous requests, I doubt that it will be possible to obtain the data necessary to answer the question. But, when I've gathered my wits, I'll make the effort.

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From: "Tom Fleming" <enders_gt1@prodigydot net>
To: "Meteor" <meteorobs@atmob.org>
Subject: (meteorobs) conventional wisdom
Date: Tue, Nov 20, 2001, 3:39 PM
 

For years, the observation that meteors appear in clusters has been dismissed by experts (at least those with whom I had some contact.) To my mind, the '98 Leonids demonstrated spatial clustering and linear clustering. What I mean by spatial is... several meteors appearing within moments parallel to each other. Linear clustering would be a series of meteors (bright) appearing over several minutes in the same region of sky.
With the proliferation of meteors this year, these relationships might be lost in the clutter. Yet, the shower/storm of this weekend seemed to enhance the  apparant clumping of these particles.
I would be interested in any discussion of the possible reasons why these particles might arrange themselves in this manner, at least after the 'dust' settles.
Tom
 
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