Alex, I haven't been able to google any numerical data yet but I think it is fairly well established that comet tails create meteor showers.
The Leonid meteor shower is thought to originate from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. The Leonid meteors<http://www.space.com/29-leonid-meteor-shower-photos-2002.html> are debris shed into space by the comet Tempel-Tuttle, which swings through the inner solar system at intervals of 33 years. With each visit the comet leaves behind a trail of dust in its wake. Much of the comet’s old dusty trails litter the mid-November part of Earth’s orbit and the Earth glides through this debris zone every year. Occasionally, Earth passes directly through an unusually concentrated dust trail, or filament, which can spark a meteor storm resulting in thousands of meteors per hour. That’s what happened in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Since the Tempel-Tuttle comet passed the sun in 1998, it was in those years immediately following its passage that the Leonids put on their best show<http://www.space.com/13613-leonid-meteor-shower-peak-1966-storm.html> . But now, the comet and its dense trails of dust have all receded far outside Earth's orbit and back into the outer regions of the solar system. So odds are that there is little, if any chance of any unusual meteor activity. [Photographer Spots Early Leonid Meteors (Video)<http://www.space.com/18498-early-leonid-meteors-caught-on-camera-video.html> ] Comet tails have also been known to contain "Plasmoids", which are magnetic and contain plasma. I believe these plasmoids are actually dark/collapsed matter, coming in very hot and creating the meteor showers. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasmoid This is why I am concerned about extremely large comets entering into the inner solar system and mucking things up. Mars ought to get whacked pretty good next year with meteors since it has no atmosphere to speak of. Stewart On Mon, Mar 4, 2013 at 11:31 AM, Alexander Hollins < [email protected]> wrote: > That should be testable. Do we have data showing an increase in activity > of smaller meteors during flybys? > > > On Thu, Feb 28, 2013 at 6:45 PM, Harry Veeder <[email protected]>wrote: > >> As a practical matter, whenever a large body passes near the earth >> should should we regard it as warning sign that the earth >> will temporarily be at an elevated risk of being hit by a smaller >> body? People who study near-earth objects should be able to answer >> this question which is different from the question if the recent >> celeatial coincidence was really just a coincidence. >> >> Harry >> >> >
