Abstract
THE possibility that the Earth could acquire natural satellites from the debris of large meteoritic impacts on the Moon has been discussed by O'Keefe1. A possible capture mechanism for bodies into temporary Earth orbit has been investigated by Baker2. On February 9, 1913, a widely observed, long duration procession of meteors and fireballs gave rise to the suggestion by Chant, Mebane, and others3 that they actually were such ephemeral Earth satellites which were finally consumed at perigee. More recently, a long, extremely narrow field of both craters and meteorites in Argentina was investigated by Kohman et al.4 and they suggested that these were the end-result of a captured Earth satellite finally spiralling into the denser atmosphere.
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References
O'Keefe, J. A., Sci. Amer., 210-2, 50 (1964).
Baker, jun., R. M. L., Science, 128, 1211 (1958).
Chant, C. A., Roy. Astro. Soc. Canad., 7, 145, 404, 438 (1913). Mebane, A. D., Science, 118, 725 (1953). Pickering, W. H., Popular Astro., 30, 632 (1922); ibid., 31, 96 (1923).
Kohman, T. P., et al., Science, 149, 1055 (1965).
Bagby, J. P., Planet. Obs. Bull., 3, 11 (1955). Bagby, J. P., Twentieth Century Obs., 1, 7 (1956).
Metcalfe, E. (personal communication).
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BAGBY, J. Evidence of an Ephemeral Earth Satellite. Nature 211, 285 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1038/211285a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/211285a0
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