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Posted: 9/8/2013 12:07:53 PM EDT
I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity.
I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? |
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From up to down would be the usual answer.
Beyond that, most meteors come from the earth passing through their paths in its orbit around the sun. The earth is doing about 66,000 MPH in its orbit and most meteors it encounters will be found forward of earth as it travels in its orbit. Just like you will find MANY more bugs splattered on your windshield than on your rear or side windows, the earth takes them in the face in its orbit. But the earth obviously rotates as it orbits. So the answer will be "the side facing forward in the earth's orbit around the sun is the side that will encounter the majority of meteors and meteorites.". CJ |
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They can come from any direction. And despite the name, meteorologists study the atmosphere, not meteoroids.
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I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity. I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? View Quote First I am not really a meteorologist, but they always come from the sky. The ones coming from the ground are called rockets. |
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First I am not really a meteorologist, but they always come from the sky. The ones coming from the ground are called rockets. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity. I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? First I am not really a meteorologist, but they always come from the sky. The ones coming from the ground are called rockets. No, those are just fast stalagmites. |
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Ever watch a meteor shower? Typically they will fall from a certain section of the sky depending upon Earth's orbital intersection to the intersection of the orbital or transversal path of meteors we come in contact with. Meteors can come from any direction. The other night I was driving and I saw a nice blue / green meteor go from West to East. Most times you will see things in the North-East because that would be where you would see the darkest section of sky first, and most likely an intersecting point of orbits for many things. because of the rotation of the earth.
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Ever watch a meteor shower? Typically they will fall from a certain section of the sky depending upon Earth's orbital intersection to the intersection of the orbital or transversal path of meteors we come in contact with. Meteors can come from any direction. The other night I was driving and I saw a nice blue / green meteor go from West to East. Most times you will see things in the North-East because that would be where you would see the darkest section of sky first, and most likely an intersecting point of orbits for many things. because of the rotation of the earth. View Quote Maybe we are witnessing the first meteor bidet? |
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I think Astronomers are the correct professionals you seek.
Meterologists interrupt our programming to tell us a Tornado is forming from the Supercell. |
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I think Astronomers are the correct professionals you seek. Meterologists interrupt our programming to tell us a Tornado is forming from the Supercell. View Quote If an astronomer interrupted our programming it would be much worse. A meteorologist does deal with meteors, just on a smaller scale. They deal with anything in the atmosphere and it's phenomenon. |
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I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity. I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? View Quote that is due to the rotation of earth and revolving around the sun, also when it is night here, our section of earth is pointing away from the sun, to the east is section of earth that is moving "forward" in space. we typically run into the rocks in space, not them running into us, though it does happen. So the meteors are coming from the section of earth that is moving forward in space at that time, so the vast majority of meteors at night will be moving East to West. Daytime meteors go West to East primarily. retired USAF Meteorologist. |
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If an astronomer interrupted our programming it would be much worse. A meteorologist does deal with meteors, just on a smaller scale. They deal with anything in the atmosphere and it's phenomenon. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I think Astronomers are the correct professionals you seek. Meterologists interrupt our programming to tell us a Tornado is forming from the Supercell. If an astronomer interrupted our programming it would be much worse. A meteorologist does deal with meteors, just on a smaller scale. They deal with anything in the atmosphere and it's phenomenon. if it exists at any time in the atmosphere, meteorologists have to know about it and how it works, though meteors are a minor concern. |
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that is due to the rotation of earth and revolving around the sun, also when it is night here, our section of earth is pointing away from the sun, to the east is section of earth that is moving "forward" in space. we typically run into the rocks in space, not them running into us, though it does happen. So the meteors are coming from the section of earth that is moving forward in space at that time, so the vast majority of meteors at night will be moving East to West. Daytime meteors go West to East primarily. retired USAF Meteorologist. View Quote So at dawn or dusk, a meteorite is likely to bore straight into the earth, possibly cracking open the lithosphere and letting the incandescent igneous jelly of death ooze all over the countryside? ![]() |
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CMJohnson is basically correct. for annual shower meteors. Earth tends to sweep them up as it orbits the Sun. Meteoroids moving faster than Earth can catch up with us. You can see them anywhere in the sky, moving in any perceived direction, though. As Earth rotates on its axis, we turn to face the direction we're orbiting the Sun at local midnight, when we are moving due east through space. At sunrise the direction we're moving is straight up. Shower meteors tend to come from the direction of their parent-named constellation, and to radiate from a particular point in the sky. As the radiant rises during the progression of the evening, that point appears to move across the sky as it wheels from east to west.
The annual Leonid shower is a good example. I watched it back in the late '90s and in '00, when the shower peaked. The head of the Lion appears as a backward question mark, with Regulus the exclamation point at its bottom. The radiant point is inside the Lion's head. The head rises in the east right at midnight, moving to near overhead at dawn. The apparent movement from the radiant point, like a vanishing point perspective of railroad rails or the like, was obvious and amazing as the night progressed. Facing into the radiant at the peak of the storm was reminiscent of watching the viewscreen of the Enterprise when it moved at warp speed. Non-shower meteors, known as spurious meteors, can come from any direction at any time. Manmade objects falling from space tend move from west to east as a general thing--if you ever watched the space shuttle dance with the International Space Station, they'd tend to rise from the SW, W or NW, depending on an individual's point of view and the object's location in its orbit around Earth at the time. The object would always be moving in a general eastward direction, either SE, E, or NE. |
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Ever watch a meteor shower? Typically they will fall from a certain section of the sky depending upon Earth's orbital intersection to the intersection of the orbital or transversal path of meteors we come in contact with. Meteors can come from any direction. The other night I was driving and I saw a nice blue / green meteor go from West to East. Most times you will see things in the North-East because that would be where you would see the darkest section of sky first, and most likely an intersecting point of orbits for many things. because of the rotation of the earth. View Quote Meteor showers, the recurring ones anyway, are named for which constellation they appear to be coming from. I believe they can travel in any direction from a given origin point. For example, the point of origin (called the "radiant") for the perseid meteor shower appears to be in the constellation Perseus. |
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Adding to other posts, Meteors generally come head on and which direction in the sky they fall depends on which part of the rotation of Earth you are in relative to the sun. Unless I am mistaken, from around midnight to dawn, meteors you see over head will generally be traveling east to west because of the orbit of the Earth relative to the travel of the meteor. From around dawn to noon they will appear to fall generally west to east. The North/South element would depend on time of year and inclination of the meteors orbit around the Sun. This is all assuming the meteor doesn't actually orbit Earth before impact. Its possible for the Meteor to get captured in Earths orbit and its direction of orbit would depend on its velocity and which side of the planet it was heading past (IE between the Earth and the Sun or on the other side of Earth where Earth is between the meteor and the Sun). From the orbit, it could fall to Earth and the direction it falls in the sky would depend on which direction it was orbiting in.
Hopefully this makes sense, I am pretty tired. |
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So at dawn or dusk, a meteorite is likely to bore straight into the earth, possibly cracking open the lithosphere and letting the incandescent igneous jelly of death ooze all over the countryside? ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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that is due to the rotation of earth and revolving around the sun, also when it is night here, our section of earth is pointing away from the sun, to the east is section of earth that is moving "forward" in space. we typically run into the rocks in space, not them running into us, though it does happen. So the meteors are coming from the section of earth that is moving forward in space at that time, so the vast majority of meteors at night will be moving East to West. Daytime meteors go West to East primarily. retired USAF Meteorologist. So at dawn or dusk, a meteorite is likely to bore straight into the earth, possibly cracking open the lithosphere and letting the incandescent igneous jelly of death ooze all over the countryside? ![]() lmao nice. its always dawn or dusk. the reason most meteors don't go "straight down" is 1: it would need to hit exactly head on, and this generally doesn't happen 2: the shape of our atmosphere isn't round, it is an oblate spheroid, or kind of a squished ball, this causes what we hit to tend to glace off. 3: most crap we hit burns up because of the density of the atmosphere 4: most of the world is water, generally speaking we don't care what happens to meteors in the ocean. |
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"Meteorologists?"
![]() Maybe you should ask a meaty urologist instead. |
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4: most of the world is water, generally speaking we don't care what happens to meteors in the ocean. View Quote Can't speak for ID, but in western PA, most of the world is fat chicks. I would imagine the impact of a meteor on same would be muffled, sort of like dropping a bowling ball into a vat of tapioca. |
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no more odd than asking a Meteorologist about volcanic eruptions (yes we have to know about those too) View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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"Meteorologists?" ![]() Maybe you should ask a meaty urologist instead. no more odd than asking a Meteorologist about volcanic eruptions (yes we have to know about those too) So...basically, it's a 'jack-of-all-trades; master of none' sort of thing, eh? ![]() |
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Quoted: So...basically, it's a 'jack-of-all-trades; master of none' sort of thing, eh? ![]() View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: "Meteorologists?" ![]() Maybe you should ask a meaty urologist instead. no more odd than asking a Meteorologist about volcanic eruptions (yes we have to know about those too) So...basically, it's a 'jack-of-all-trades; master of none' sort of thing, eh? ![]() I know they are masters at breaking stuff. ![]() retired USAF Weather Maintenance. |
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that is due to the rotation of earth and revolving around the sun, also when it is night here, our section of earth is pointing away from the sun, to the east is section of earth that is moving "forward" in space. we typically run into the rocks in space, not them running into us, though it does happen. So the meteors are coming from the section of earth that is moving forward in space at that time, so the vast majority of meteors at night will be moving East to West. Daytime meteors go West to East primarily. retired USAF Meteorologist. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity. I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? that is due to the rotation of earth and revolving around the sun, also when it is night here, our section of earth is pointing away from the sun, to the east is section of earth that is moving "forward" in space. we typically run into the rocks in space, not them running into us, though it does happen. So the meteors are coming from the section of earth that is moving forward in space at that time, so the vast majority of meteors at night will be moving East to West. Daytime meteors go West to East primarily. retired USAF Meteorologist. thank you. I have seen a daytime fireball heading east one time, so you have nailed it. |
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I know they are masters at breaking stuff. ![]() retired USAF Weather Maintenance. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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"Meteorologists?" ![]() Maybe you should ask a meaty urologist instead. no more odd than asking a Meteorologist about volcanic eruptions (yes we have to know about those too) So...basically, it's a 'jack-of-all-trades; master of none' sort of thing, eh? ![]() I know they are masters at breaking stuff. ![]() retired USAF Weather Maintenance. oh very funny, if you would fix it right the first time I wouldn't have had to break it to get you back to fix it again. |
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First I am not really a meteorologist, but they always come from the sky. The ones coming from the ground are called rockets. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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I'm a sky watcher. I believe meteors and meteorites fall generally from the NE to SW or somewhere in that proximity. I tried a google search and came up short on if this is a true statement. Yes, they fall from anywhere on the earth but again I believe they fall from this direction because of the way the earth is rotating and how gravity works on space rocks / dust. Anyone know if they fall from opposite directions? First I am not really a meteorologist, but they always come from the sky. The ones coming from the ground are called rockets. I think this man is onto something. |
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They can come from any direction. And despite the name, meteorologists study the atmosphere, not meteoroids. Came here to post this. That's something that's always bugged me. Why does the tv news always toss it over to the "meteorologist" to cover earthquakes, tsunami's, wildfires, etc..? Yeah, winds, humidity, etc. for the fires, but still... |
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They can come from any direction. And despite the name, meteorologists study the atmosphere, not meteoroids. Came here to post this. Specific definitions of these are often debated, but here's the gist of it: Asteroid - Any naturally occurring object in space that isn't a moon or comet and that is too small to be considered a planet. Some asteroids actually have their own moons. Meteoroid - Any naturally occurring object in space that's too small to be considered an asteroid. Meteor - The moment an asteroid enters the atmosphere of a larger body. Meteors can (and have) gone back to being asteroids if they skip off the atmosphere and go back into space. Meteorite - The moment a meteor makes contact with the ground. ETA: When you toss in comets, then you have to start distinguishing between composition and orbital characteristics to tell the difference. |
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That's something that's always bugged me. Why does the tv news always toss it over to the "meteorologist" to cover earthquakes, tsunami's, wildfires, etc..? Yeah, winds, humidity, etc. for the fires, but still... View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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They can come from any direction. And despite the name, meteorologists study the atmosphere, not meteoroids. Came here to post this. That's something that's always bugged me. Why does the tv news always toss it over to the "meteorologist" to cover earthquakes, tsunami's, wildfires, etc..? Yeah, winds, humidity, etc. for the fires, but still... primarily because Meteorology is in reality Earth Sciences, with a focus on atmospheric phenomena, so we have to know a little about pretty much everything with a focus on atmospherics. for example when I was USAF I often had to prepare ground trafficability reports for the Army, basically what can cross this without getting stuck, this was really important for the JRTC at Fort Polk LA. When I was at Cannon I prepared fire hazard forecasts to determine what they could practice with at Melrose range and what equipment they would need. We also are very adept at forecasting storm surge heights from hurricanes and the Navy Aerographers do Sea surface forecasts all the time, so Tsunami wave forecasts are right up that line of work. We often had to do plume forecasts for volcanoes so we are pretty familiar with their effects, and earthquakes are one of those things that is "well they do every thing else soooo why not". |
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I believe they can come from any direction.
During certain "showers" you will get a bunch come from the same direction. |
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I know they are masters at breaking stuff. ![]() retired USAF Weather Maintenance. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted:
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"Meteorologists?" ![]() Maybe you should ask a meaty urologist instead. no more odd than asking a Meteorologist about volcanic eruptions (yes we have to know about those too) So...basically, it's a 'jack-of-all-trades; master of none' sort of thing, eh? ![]() I know they are masters at breaking stuff. ![]() retired USAF Weather Maintenance. Trouble: laser ceilometer is inop. Clear sky. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Meteorologists don't study meteors or meteorites, they study the weather. Long ago meteors were thought to be atmospheric phenomenon, which is why they were named meteors.
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