[meteorite-list] Interesting Meteorite Science Article

From: Chris Peterson <clp_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Apr 4 22:43:01 2005
Message-ID: <058701c53989$294e5770$f551040a_at_bellatrix>

I don't believe there is any way a ring system could be stable in a binary
planet system (which is really what the Earth/Moon is). Theories of ring
system formation seem to require a fairly large system of moons to capture
and shepherd debris.

Also, the effects of even a sparse ring system probably would not have gone
unnoticed given all the satellites in orbit- particularly geostationary
ones.

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Flaherty" <grf2_at_verizon.net>
To: "Notkin" <geoking_at_notkin.net>; "Meteorite List"
<meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 8:31 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Interesting Meteorite Science Article


> Geoff, Excuse my piggybacking. I'm unable to post directly.
>
> Is our current information sufficient to completely rule out the existence
> of a ring system for EARTH?
> Reading Harry McSween's "Stardust to Planets" brought back memories of
> John Glenn's first suborbital flight. Anyone my age or there abouts
> remembers his exclaiming at one point about "firefly like particles
> streaming past his capsule", a comment that as far as I know was never
> publically addressed.
> The fact that rings exist in relation to so many of the planets which
> unlike Saturn, defied observation until relatively recently, gives me
> pause.
> Excuse my curiosity if it lacks sophistication. As a recent amateur
> meteoricist, I cannot dampen my enthusiasm for all the potential
> connections no matter how far fetched and unfounded they may be. An ring
> system consisting of extremely fine, yet undetected, particles could
> provide a constant source of dibris which slowed by contact with the
> atmosphere eventually deccelerates and plummet to earth, a constant source
> of "IPDP" [inter or intra].
> My hope is that my recent memberships allows the priveledge of asking
> these kinds questions and getting responses from reliable sources. A
> decisive no with some short explaination is as welcome as any other answer
> for it at least acknowledges a question.
> Thank you for your time and consideration in advance.
> Jerry Flaherty
Received on Mon 04 Apr 2005 10:42:51 PM PDT