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Bill Napier has a significant paper coming out soon in the Monthly Bulletin of the Royal Astronomical Society, and I got a look at it pre-publication. While I cant share the paper itself, I can share the abstract STRIKE and a few snippets STRIKE. The paper is significant because for the first time it provides an astronomical context for the 12,900 event. Napier shows that the event is entirely compatible with a swarm of airbursts from the Taurid Stream, host to the short period Comet Encke. More later…
Update: I am working to get excerpts approved for the blog, but, until then, the abstract:
Palaeolithic extinctions and the Taurid Complex
W.M. Napier, Cardiff Centre for Astrobiology, Cardiff University, 2 North Road, Cardiff CF10 3DY, UK
Accepted 2010 February 21. Received 2010 February 20; in original form 2010 January 23
Intersection with the debris of a large (50-100 km) short-period comet during the Upper Palaeolithic provides a satisfactory explanation for the catastrophe of celestial
origin which has been postulated to have occurred around 12900 BP, and which presaged a return to ice age conditions of duration »1300 years. The Taurid Complex
appears to be the debris of this erstwhile comet; it includes at least 19 of the brightest near-Earth objects. Sub-kilometre bodies in meteor streams may present the greatest
regional impact hazard on timescales of human concern.
This is extremely interesting material from Dr. Napier. I will look forward to reading the paper very much. Perhaps with this paper those scientists that up til mow have been so adamantly opposed may sit up and take notice, finally. It almost has to take a comet hitting them on the head for these people to change their minds.
[...] Royal Astronomical Society: Napier provides astronomical model for YDB Impact Event [...]