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Re: Lyrid Meteor Shower Reminder

Hello George, Al , Bernd and everyone who wrote,

First to Al.  I hadn't noticed that your inital message was to me and
not the list, hence my reply to the list.  After your message I received
several others which I wish as well had been posted to the list as there
are some discrepancies of thought amongst members of the list even on
some rudimentary ideas.
 I didn't mean to imply that you had said anything about the asteroid
belt having formerly been a planet.  That's my baby.  I had a long go
'round on that once before and remain unconvinced that it was not
formerly a planet. That should take you off the hook for that unpopular
idea.
Then I did continue on - without separating my own thoughts  - when I
got down to discussing parallel orbits.  Which leads me to George.

Thank you for your  very careful walk-through on the issues.  I shall
re-read it.  It is well stated.  However, I am a purist when it comes to
the concept of parallel.  Descriptions like yours, "loosely parallel",
"somewhat parallel", "relatively parallel", and "pretty much parallel"
do not compute in my brain with regard to this very precise concept.

Further you go on to state they may be as much as 30 degrees  or more
off.  So I can only conclude that they are not actually parallel, but
do, at the very least, travel in the same direction. (Humor)   It would
seem by the variances you have stated that we are approaching something
akin to Quantum Mechanics, where one cannot say that the macro-
particles are, at any given point, travelling in parallel orbits,  but
that they tend to be parallel at certain points and this may or may not
be predictable. OK.  I'll stop fooling around.  I have just broadened my
base for the defintion of parallel to include (for cometary purposes
only) "travelling in a similar course".  This however is far different
than 'lines that never meet' as the railroad track example was intended
to convey.

To Bernd:  I know your inclusion of the RR tracks was primarily to show
the perspective of radiance even though the debris tends to actually
move in a similar course or orbit, while giving the appearance of
spraying radially.

Best regards,
Julia