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(meteorobs) Re-Double meteor
Michael,
I too have seen meteors that appear as normal, fade away and then return
on the same trajectory. The brightness between the two "appearances" can
vary by a magnitude or two. On the 1998 Leonids a lot of meteors had a
double flare, almost disappearing between them.
The light you see i.e. "the meteor" is caused by the ionisation of the
atmosphere through friction that it travels through. My theory is that the
atmosphere itself along the meteoid's trajectory varies in density, causing
the varying light emission.
However, I could be completely wrong.
Gary Wilson, Nottinghamshire England
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