[meteorite-list] METEOROLOGIST

[Chris Peterson]

Manoj-

In terms of cosmic velocities, the rotation rate of the Earth is pretty 
insignificant. In this case, the difference between east-west and west-east 
is only a few hundred meters per second. More to the point is the time it 
occurred- early evening. Because the zenith is receding at the orbital 
velocity of the Earth at sunset, such fireballs tend to be caused by bodies
in prograde orbits which intersect the Earth at low relative speeds. As a 
result, evening fireballs tend to be longer and are probably more likely to 
produce meteorites. From the descriptions I've read, last night's event 
sounds like a typical slow, bright, early evening fireball.

Chris

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


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Manoj Pai" <manojpai at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2005 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] METEOROLOGIST


> Chris is right that it cannot possibly be a Lyrid fire
> ball as the radiant was in the opposite direction.
>
> But since its come from the Western end... it must
> have been pretty fast... since it has caught up with
> the rotation of earth.
>
> Manoj Pai