I'd agree that a meteor can't collide with Saturn's rings, but it would be correct usage to say a meteor collided with an airplane, a bird, or maybe even the ground were it still hypersonic and ablating, since at that stage both the visual effect and the body itself are typically called a "meteor" (something the IAU is considering formalizing last I heard).
Chris **************************************** Chris L Peterson Cloudbait Observatory http://www.cloudbait.com Michael Mulgrew <mikest...@gmail.com> wrote: >A "meteor" can't collide with anything! > >Michael in so. Cal. > >On Thu, Apr 25, 2013 at 12:34 PM, Ron Baalke <baa...@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov> >wrote: >> >> >> >> April 25, 2013 >> >> Dwayne Brown >> Headquarters, Washington >> 202-358-1726 >> dwayne.c.br...@nasa.gov >> >> Jia-Rui C. Cook >> Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. >> 818-354-0850 >> jcc...@jpl.nasa.gov >> >> RELEASE: 13-120 >> >> NASA PROBE OBSERVES METEORS COLLIDING WITH SATURN'S RINGS >> >> WASHINGTON -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided the first direct >> evidence of small meteoroids breaking into streams of rubble and >> crashing into Saturn's rings. >> >> These observations make Saturn's rings the only location besides >> Earth, the moon, and Jupiter where scientists and amateur astronomers >> have been able to observe impacts as they occur. Studying the impact >> rate of meteoroids from outside the Saturn system helps scientists >> understand how different planet systems in the solar system formed. >> >> Our solar system is full of small, speeding objects. Planetary bodies >> frequently are pummeled by them. The meteoroids at Saturn range from >> about one-half inch to several yards (1 centimeter to several meters) >> in size. It took scientists years to distinguish tracks left by nine >> meteoroids in 2005, 2009 and 2012. >> >> Details of the observations appear in a paper in the Thursday edition >> of Science. >> >> Results from Cassini already have shown Saturn's rings act as very >> effective detectors of many kinds of surrounding phenomena, including >> the interior structure of the planet and the orbits of its moons. For >> example, a subtle but extensive corrugation that ripples 12,000 miles >> (19,000 kilometers) across the innermost rings tells of a very large >> meteoroid impact in 1983. >> >> "These new results imply the current-day impact rates for small >> particles at Saturn are about the same as those at Earth-- two very >> different neighborhoods in our solar system, and this is exciting to >> see," said Linda Spilker, Cassini project scientist at NASA's Jet >> Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. "It took Saturn's >> rings acting like a giant meteoroid detector -- 100 times the surface >> area of the Earth -- and Cassini's long-term tour of the Saturn >> system to address this question." >> >> The Saturnian equinox in summer 2009 was an especially good time to >> see the debris left by meteoroid impacts. The very shallow sun angle >> on the rings caused the clouds of debris to look bright against the >> darkened rings in pictures from Cassini's imaging science subsystem. >> >> "We knew these little impacts were constantly occurring, but we didn't >> know how big or how frequent they might be, and we didn't necessarily >> expect them to take the form of spectacular shearing clouds," said >> Matt Tiscareno, lead author of the paper and a Cassini participating >> scientist at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. "The sunlight shining >> edge-on to the rings at the Saturnian equinox acted like an >> anti-cloaking device, so these usually invisible features became >> plain to see." >> >> Tiscareno and his colleagues now think meteoroids of this size >> probably break up on a first encounter with the rings, creating >> smaller, slower pieces that then enter into orbit around Saturn. The >> impact into the rings of these secondary meteoroid bits kicks up the >> clouds. The tiny particles forming these clouds have a range of >> orbital speeds around Saturn. The clouds they form soon are pulled >> into diagonal, extended bright streaks. >> >> "Saturn's rings are unusually bright and clean, leading some to >> suggest that the rings are actually much younger than Saturn," said >> Jeff Cuzzi, a co-author of the paper and a Cassini interdisciplinary >> scientist specializing in planetary rings and dust at NASA's Ames >> Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. "To assess this dramatic >> claim, we must know more about the rate at which outside material is >> bombarding the rings. This latest analysis helps fill in that story >> with detection of impactors of a size that we weren't previously able >> to detect directly." >> >> The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the >> European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. JPL manages the >> Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in >> Washington. JPL designed, developed and assembled the Cassini orbiter >> and its two onboard cameras. The imaging team consists of scientists >> from the United States, England, France and Germany. The imaging >> operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, >> Colo. >> >> For images of the impacts and information about Cassini, visit: >> >> http://www.nasa.gov/cassini >> >> -end- >> >> ______________________________________________ >> >> Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com >> Meteorite-list mailing list >> Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com >> http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list >______________________________________________ > >Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com >Meteorite-list mailing list >Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com >http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ Visit the Archives at http://www.meteorite-list-archives.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list@meteoritecentral.com http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
