I’ve been studying meteorite falls, meteors, fireballs, atmospheric entry, ablation, velocity, triangulation, and fragmentation of asteroid/meteoroid bodies for going on 3 years, and have read the arguments that meteoroid bodies do not spin or create spiral like trails or smoke trains during atmospheric entry. The “spiral” smoke trains, are explained to be caused by upper lever winds.
There are articles and papers written on the topic which suggests that meteoroids do not spiral while in flight. If meteoroids don’t spin in the air, and the “spiral” type smoke trains that have been photographed are supposedly explained by upper level winds, then how is this possible? http://www.meteoritestudies.com/PASADUST.GIF
Smoke trains/trails take “TIME” to dissipate and disperse after a meteor event. We can all agree on that I think. How long that dissipation/distortion takes is based on a number of factors including the size and composition of the body relative to the speed and angle which it enters the atmosphere.
The point being that any given asteroid/meteoroid can produce a smoke trail/train, the visibility of the train is relatively variable based directly upon the size and the time elapsed between event and observation, video or photograph.
TIME is arguably the most important point factor. A photograph taken at the precise moment of termination leaves very nearly ZERO time sufficient for winds to disperse the trailing smoke train.
Therefore a smoke train photographed at the precise moment of terminal burst which shows a preceding “spiraling”, oblong, or zig-zag smoke trail can probably be explained by the motion of the body leaving this trail, and NOT the dispersion of the smoke by winds simply because not enough TIME has passed from the events happening to the snap of the camera shutter. Which would be a fraction of a fraction of a second. Not long enough for winds to disperse or distort the smoke train.
Wouldn’t one conclude that given this information, that meteoroid bodies do in fact “spin” and tumble during atmospheric entry, thereby leaving a “spiral” or zig-zag smoke trail visible in the sky?
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Read these articles and view these photos to decide for yourself.
Twisted Meteoroid Trail? – http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap100602.html (this particular event was purported to be a spiraling meteoroid trail, but it was attributed to the wobble of the camera. Inother words the camera got BUMPED)
The subsequent discussion of the Tenerife photo on the Met-List. A Twisted Meteor Trail Over Tenerife
A note on this event… I was admittedly incorrect in the interpretation of the Tenerife Photo. However my analysis of the Leonid Photo above seems to conclude that spiraling meteors are real.
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