[meteorite-list] Interesting Meteorite Science Article

[Chris Peterson]

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