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Re: (meteorobs)

In a message dated 7/15/03 6:14:19 AM Pacific Daylight Time, kronk@amsmeteors.org writes:


>>I think the proper way to interpret Nevyn's account is to acknowledge the fact that a very bright meteor was seen and that it was so bright it appeared distinct through the clouds. <<


I agree....which was basically my point....the alternative which was based on what wasn't reported, would have made no sense.

>>Not knowing the thickness of the cloud cover during Nevyn's observation, the meteor might have been similar or significantly brighter. <<


"Overcast with Moonsoon clouds" is usually quite thick from my experience, but in this case, I suspect it wasn't as thick as Nevyn thought it was. I think it was more likely the meteor was above the clouds than below. When Moonsoonal clouds break down, they tend to thin out fairly fast, but still appear as an overcast.


>>We might be talking about something the size of a softball or basketball,
depending on its composition, but I doubt that it weighed 10 tons.<<


I agree....but if it was incandescent below the clouds, which is relatively low above the earth(about 3 miles), we would be talking about something quite larger than a basketball. Something that would still have a very high cosmic velocity intact. Something the size of a basketball or softball would have lost it's cosmic velocity way before reaching this low altitude...dot it would then be going too slow to see a meteors light. It would be just a falling rock near terminal velocities. 

George Zay
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