[meteorite-list] Leonid

[Chris Peterson]

That doesn't happen. It isn't physically possible for a meteor to still 
be flaming close to the ground (that is, below several miles height) 
unless it is massive- many tons. An object like that is both extremely 
rare (certainly not the product of the Leonid debris stream) and 
produces a fireworks show - if not a crater- that will be seen by 
thousands and recorded seismically.

Even meteors that undergo a terminal explosion- that is, which disrupt 
very close to the point where they are no longer incandescent- still 
produce meteorites with a fusion crust. The outer surface only takes a 
fraction of a second to form (and actually does so after the 
incandescent flight- before that the surface is simply ablating).

Chris

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


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <jwb7772 at netzero.net>
To: <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 05, 2006 11:45 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Leonid


Walter.
 Remember it blew up in the air close to the ground!  You are looking at 
the inside. That is why there is no crust.   Jim B