Anomalies in the light curves of meteors resulting from fragmentation

Abstract

In one of a series of papers on the physical theory of meteors, Jacchia1 has pointed out that while the observed decelerations and light curves of bright meteors are in good agreement with the simple ballistic theory, the fainter meteors photographed with the Baker Super Schmidt cameras show startling anomalies. He has adduced evidence to show that the theory of progressive fragmentation of the meteoroid offers a simple explanation of the observed anomalies.