The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #83611   Message #1538882
Posted By: open mike
09-Aug-05 - 07:20 PM
Thread Name: BS: Perseid meteor show. thur night fri morn
Subject: RE: BS: Perseid meteor show. thur night fri morn
One of the web sitesw above mentions a specific place to tune in to hear radio signals related to meteors. I have heard of a differnt way:

The radio method

Simply tune in to a faraway radio station (between 800 and 1600 km away) whose frequency is not used by any local station. Usually, it is impossible to detect a radio signal from a distant transmitter. When a meteor appears (i.e. when a meteoroid passes through the upper atmosphere), however, the radio waves emitted by the radio station are reflected by the ionized column of air. As a result, the signal is detected for a brief moment. There are, however, other atmospheric phenomena, such as polar auroras and certain types of clouds, that cause signals to be detected. Radio waves can also be detected during temperature inversions, when they become trapped between masses of cold and warm air. In such cases, the wave can travel several hundred kilometres.