[meteorite-list] Dark mass in front of Cherbakul bolide + raining meteorites

[Chris Peterson]

There can be no dark object in front of a fireball. It is the leading 
face of the body that is generating the pressure front and heating the 
air, resulting in ablation and the light we see.

Keep in mind the scale, as well. We're seeing a ~15 meter diameter body 
(and in every other reported case, even smaller) at a minimum distance 
of 30 km (and in most cases farther). That means the entire body 
subtends a mere 2 arcmin, right around the resolution of the human eye, 
and typically smaller than the resolution of a camera.

I suspect that observations and images of any such thing are the product 
of various artifacts, both visual and photographic. Also possible are 
atmospheric effects related to the supersonic shockwave or compression 
zone. But not a physical body, I think.

Chris

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

On 2/23/2013 9:54 AM, Vincent . wrote:
>
> sorry if double mail
>
> Dear all,
> When a very big bolide is observed, some witnesses explain the observation of "the" meteorite parent, just in front of bolide.
> I wanted to check this very unknow phenomen.
> I decomposed some video from Chelyabinsk bolide. One of them shows a dark mass in front of the bolide!!! It seem rotating. The dark mass is visible during approx 1/2 second. Some details are visible 3/10 second later during 2/10 seconds.
> With an exciting surprise, the end of path, 1 second later show the fragmentation of two medium mass. One of them create a veritable "plume" in the sky. Perhaps the beginning of a rain meteorite?
> If this is really the explosion of a meteroite mass in sky and/or the real "asteroid" falling in the atmosphere, then that's is the first time that the phenomen is recorded! I'll be very happy to have it discovered.
> Photos are visible ==>  http://www.flickr.com/photos/93493758@N04/ Enjoy!!
>
> Kind regards
> Vincent