Organic Matter Can Survive Atmospheric Entry

Porfiry writes: "Astrobiologists have come to a number of interesting conclusions after observing the 1999 Leonids. "Last year's Leonid meteor storm yielded rich research results for NASA astrobiologists," said Dr. Peter Jenniskens. "Findings to date indicate that the chemical precursors to life -- found in comet dust -- may well have survived a plunge into early Earth's atmosphere. We discovered that most of the visible light of meteors comes from a warm wake just behind the meteor, not from the hot meteoroid's head," said Jenniskens. This warm wake has just the right temperature for the creation of life's chemical precursors." Note that this year's Leonids will be brightest on November 16 and 17.