Double laminar and turbulent meteor trails observed in space and simulated in the laboratory

Abstract

[1] One of nature's most interesting and beautiful sights is meteor trails that are visible to the naked eye. The first published sketches of trails appeared in 1869 after the Leonids storm of 1868. One of the perplexing features of these trails is that very often they are double trails and seldom triple or quadruple, which rules out breaking up or fractioning as a source. The original observations were visual and reproduced in artwork. The photographs used now reveal the accuracy of the original 1868 drawings. Since 1907, scientific explanations have ruled out physical breakup as a source. The long-standing explanation by Trowbridge (1907) has also been ruled out using modern cameras, and several new explanations have been proposed. Here we modify the explanation by Zinn and Drummond (2005), who modeled the event as an explosion followed by buoyancy, and instead, explain the effect by showing that the trails are severely convectively unstable, leading to the vortices proposed by these authors. This idea is supported by lidar-based measurements of the temperature gradient in the trail. We also show laboratory experiments that are remarkably similar to the meteor trails in appearance, although we argue that buoyancy is not the effect in the natural case.

Wavelike Structures of E‐Region Irregularities Observed by All‐Sky Radar at Low Latitude

“…In previous studies, NFAIs were mainly observed at high latitudes where electrons could attach to different neutral species to form charged particles (e.g., Chau et al, 2014Chau et al, , 2021Chen et al, 2004;Kozlovsky et al, 2017;Rapp & Lübken, 2004). When these charged particles were immersed in a turbulent flow, meter-scale density irregularities could be formed and observed as NFAIs (e.g., Kelley et al, 2013). However, such a mechanism is unlikely applicable to the low-latitude conditions.…”

Nonspecular meteor trails from non‐field‐aligned irregularities: Can they be explained by presence of charged meteor dust?

“…These suggestions were supported by in situ rocket measurements. Later, Kelley et al [] demonstrated that the trails are severely convectively unstable; therefore, the ablated charged meteor dust particles immersed in turbulent flow can create a Bragg‐scattering similar to PMSE [e.g., Rapp and Lübken , and references therein].…”

The Spectrum and Orbit of a Fireball Producing Mesospheric Irregularity and Implications for Meteor Mass Deposition

“…On the other hand, the sharp edges might support the dust plasma instability, which could create structures with Bragg scales and corresponding strong backscatters. Moreover, Kelley et al (2013) demonstrated that the charged dust particles, if immersed in turbulent flow, would also create Bragg-scale NFAI structures with little magnetic aspect sensitivity, in a process similar to that suggested as being responsible for the generation of polar mesospheric summer echoes.…”