[meteorite-list] Meteor shower meteorite dropping events

From: almitt2 at localnet.com <almitt2_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu, 12 Aug 2010 01:15:53 -0400
Message-ID: <20100812011553.iw8xdm4ihbcowsog_at_webmail.localnet.com>

Hi Chris and all,

I'm sure your aware of the relationship of meteors vs fireball events
working on trying to photograph them.

For those less familiar, and my thoughts regarding these events, meteor
showers are associated with comets and are the trailing debris behind
the comet. When the earth enters an orbit of a comet we usually have
some sort of meteor shower. This material is very fine and it doesn't
take much to make a nice streak in our atmosphere. Could there be
chunks of heavier material, there could be. As we send space craft out
to various comets we should have a better idea of composition and if
stony or iron material is present. Since comets formed out in the far
reaches of our solar system the materials making up comets should be
fine icy particles.

Fireball events that drop meteorites are normally coming from
collisions in the asteroid belt where the meteoriods make their way
into the inner solar system.

Now commenting on the possibility of an iron meteorite falling from a
meteor shower, while it can't be ruled out completely, most likely the
iron just happen to fall during the shower and isn't related to the
cometary debris or comet. A chance happening during the shower that
gives the illusion that it fell as part of the debris. It would be hard
to prove it one way or the other, unless a good set of photographs or
expert whitnesses could plot an orbit showing it to be a part of the
shower. I'm incline to think it was unrelated.

Certain carbonaceous meteorites have been suggested to be cometary
debris. The friable nature of the material would make survival of this
material rare. I would guess it would have to be material that has to
catch up with the Earth and fall at lower speeds in order to survive
the fall.

I believe that we still lack any absolute evidence of any material
coming from meteor showers at this point. Meteorites fall randomly and
it isn't impossible for them to fall during a meteor shower, unrelated
to the shower event.

Best!

--AL Mitterling

Quoting Chris Spratt <cspratt at islandnet.com>:

> I know of one meteor shower (November Andromedids) where an iron
> meteorite fell in Mazapil, Mexico during the shower.
>
> Are there any similar events?
>
> Chris Spratt> Victoria, BC
> (Via my iPhone)
Received on Thu 12 Aug 2010 01:15:53 AM PDT