Scientificly and statistically accurate in every detail I'm sure. But when I
brought this debris to class the next day the kids were extatic that such
possibilities exist. That matter extraneous to our own earth might be within
their reach. I purposely failed to tell them, though that the whole of the
planet was made of such extraneous material cause I didn't want to dampen
that wonderful enthusiasm.
Because I sensed that such entusiasm leads to dreams and visions that lead
humankind toward distant horizons yet to be thought of much less seen.
I realize that this list is made up of a wide range of interests,
backgrounds and abilities.
I present this anecdotal example as a personal experience. Holding and
sharing those specks gave most everyone a mind opening delight, including
myself. Today due to List membership I've been able to acquire, to me, a
treasure beyond price. But, but, but I still reflect on that experience as a
trifle more enduring than all the rest.
Oh, and afterall, the suggestion to "experiment"[the use is figurative of
course] came from no less an authority than Jack Horkiemer "Keep Looking
Up", the great populizer of Astronomy.
We sometimes wonder why funds for the further major expoloration of SPACE
have a habit of drying up. Why the "average" citizen could give a &*^% about
Mars or whatever.
I understand that scientific research requires sustained focus,
deliberation, precision and repeatable experimentation. That conclusions
based on limited experience are dubious.
Seems I remember somewhere hearing that at one time the notion that anything
could fall out of the sky was preposterous.
So I do like to keep an open mind to possibilities outside and inside too of
my experience.
Science and technology are mind blowing in their contribution to our lives
today.
But you got to have that average nondedicated person cough up the dough
though if we'll ever see that persuit of a goal that flourished during
Apollo period.
Jerry Flaherty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Peterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Meteorite List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 12:05 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Magnetite/Glass Meteorite Balls
Well, without some sort of mineralogical analysis, there's no way of
knowing what you had. There are pretty good models for the dust size
distribution in shower debris streams. Most of it is of a size that won't
burn at all when it encounters the Earth's atmosphere, but that size can't
get to the ground in less than months (and can't be seen under a hand lens
in any case). Large enough particles to drift down in a few hours are
surely rare: the total Perseid mass that actually burns up is only
something like 100 ug/hour/km^2. Even if none of it burned up there's no
way you'll find a significant amount in a small pan from one night's
activity.
Aside from that, there's no reason to think that Perseid debris should
have any significant iron content.
I ran a dust collector for three years. It had a collection surface of 6
m^2, and a water flushing system. The amount of dust collected varied
widely from day to day, and was uncorrelated with meteor showers. Much of
the dust was ferromagnetic or paramagnetic. Twice, when we had a high
amount of material, we examined the dust with a SEM. We were unable to
find any particles that showed signs of melting or otherwise resembled the
meteorite dust collected at high altitude. In three years, we failed to
conclusively identify a single micrometeorite, although we had a handful
of spherical particles (10-100 um) that were interesting.
IMO, the dust you collected after the Perseid shower was unrelated to that
shower. Statistically, you can't correlate two events from a single
sample.
Chris
*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Flaherty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Chris Peterson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Meteorite List"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, July 13, 2007 10:14 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Magnetite/Glass Meteorite Balls
Chris I beg to differ with you as personal experience during a very
active Persid shower in the late 80's or early 90's produced a
sterling[S] quantity of particles which jumped from beneath the water to
a magnet and lent themselves to a magnificent show under a hand lens.
Jerry Flaherty
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