Hollow meteor trains | Nature

ABSTRACT ENDURING meteor trains that appear at a height of about 85 km as double lines of light have been reported for more than a century, the first record being Newton's1 in 1869.

Although the dual appearance, which has been seen in the telescope within a few seconds of train formation and by the naked eye after about 1 min, is not due to the occurrence of separate

trains2, no explanation has yet been offered for the phenomenon. The peculiar formation almost certainly results from the expanding meteor train assuming the shape of a hollow cylinder3 and

it is shown here that this behaviour is to be expected on the basis of recent4,5 models of the mechanism of long enduring train luminosity. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe

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ESSA Tech. Rep. IER 42-ITSA 42 (Institute for Aeronomy, Boulder, Colorado, 1967). Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS * Physics Department,

University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand W. J. BAGGALEY Authors * W. J. BAGGALEY View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND

PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE BAGGALEY, W. Hollow meteor trains. _Nature_ 270, 588–589 (1977). https://doi.org/10.1038/270588a0 Download citation

* Received: 22 August 1977 * Accepted: 28 October 1977 * Issue Date: 15 December 1977 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/270588a0 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you share the following link with will

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