Abstract
THE incandescence of meteors was at first ascribed to their friction against the air, until in 1854 M. Regnault showed that this was not probable. M. Govi, of Turin, now affirms that the high temperature is due to the heat disengaged by the compression exercised on the air in front of them. This accounts for the fact that the interior of a meteor sometimes shows no signs of excessive heating, and that the hydrogen is not expelled.—[Bul. Association Scientifique de France, t. vi. 305.]
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The Cause of the Incandescence of Meteors. Nature 1, 88 (1869). https://doi.org/10.1038/001088a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001088a0