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(meteorobs) RE: Leonids making it to the ground intact (was: RE: (meteorobs)Excerpts from "CCNet 123/2001 - 22 November 2001")
Thanks Wayne,
The way you put it,i can see why it is VERY un lightly.
Leo
At 18:28 07/12/01 -0500, you wrote:
>Leo, It's harder than you think, for a Leonid particularly. Even for an
>earthgrazer the velocity is still ~71 km/sec.This means that gravity does
>almost nothing to change the trajectory, so if it's going straight across
>the top of the atmosphere, it will continue to do so, and if it survives
>it's contact it continues on, albeit in a slightly altered solar orbit. The
>ratio of geocentric velocity to speed precludes even earth orbit. For a
>particle any lower, it almost certainly is completely destroyed, since
>anylarger piece would certainly explode as it decelerated. Then all the
>little pieces (Still going 160,000 mph) would burn up. If you're talking
>Geminids, or Taurids or other membersof the ecliptic complex, or maybe
>Draconids, the much lower velocity allows gravity to shift it's path, and
>the forces during deceleration are less extreme. But Leonids, I would be
>extremely skeptical of any such clain. I mean EXTREMELY! :-)
>
>Wayne
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