Sue Hartigan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Hi John: I thought that you might be interested in this. It also gives some sites that you can followup on. Sue > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for March 11, 1998 > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > What are the fastest and slowest meteors? > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > The fastest meteors are the extremely rare extrasolars, which can come > streaking in from interstellar space at speeds up to 100 miles per > second. These speedsters are almost too fast to see. > > Within the solar system, meteors are limited to the solar escape > velocity of 26 miles per second, plus Earth's orbital velocity of 18 > miles per second. The Leonids, which you can see before dawn around > November 26, flash into the air at this combined speed of about 44 > miles per second. > > The slowest meteors are the ones that come up behind the Earth, > catching up to it as it moves in its orbit. The slow Camelopardalids, > which will be visible around the 25th of March, drop gently into the > atmosphere at about seven miles per second, which is just about > Earth's escape velocity. > > For more cool facts about meteors, visit > <http://medicine.wustl.edu/~kronkg/>. > To learn about the Leonid meteor shower, visit > <http://see.msfc.nasa.gov/see/mod/leonids.html>. -- Two rules in life: 1. Don't tell people everything you know. 2. Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
