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Leonids making it to the ground intact (was: RE: (meteorobs) Excerpts from "CCNet 123/2001 - 22 November 2001")
Presumably the chances of a Leonid meteor making it to the ground would be
increased,if the trajectory and angle of entry is low enough(ie
Earthgrazers) and the size of the original meteoroid large enough -but that
would mean that the radiant would have to be WELL below the horizon in
order for the meteor to not simply pass overhead and come down somewhere
over the other horizon.
As far as i'm aware(i don't recall any times being given),the people who
claim to have retrieved meteorites were observing while the radiant was
high,when they say the meteorites fell,and so could not have been due to
earthgrazing Leonids if the time of the falls i am assuming is correct.
Observing the Leonids from Australia this year,i saw one earthgrazer which
just kept going! -crossing around 150 degrees of sky,and having turned from
a lush green to yellow,then orange,and finally a deep red,it disappeared
out of sight behind whatever obstructions there were on the horizon -a
truly amazing meteor and the most memorable of the 2001 Leonids for me! It
seemed like it was visible for around 4 or 5 seconds at least(i could be
wrong) and was around -3 or-4 mag directly overhead,and slightly less
(-2/-2.5 mag)by the time it was disappearing over the horizon (but this
would still be a bright (perhaps brighter?!)fireball for anyone further
along the trajectory from me who was directly underneath it).
Seeing that made me wonder if it(and other,possibly bigger Leonid
earthgrazers) could have landed ...and i have not(entirely)dismissed the
possibility that it did ...at least till i see firm evidence to the contrary!
Leo
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