Antimatter in Near Space

Although antimatter—simple bodies made purely of antiparticles—is today predominantly a business of experimental particle physics, in the past astronomers discussed whether or not natural antimatter existed in the form of meteors, comets or even greater objects. They did not speak of antimatter, though, but typically of non-terrestrial or ‘contraterrene’ matter. The hypothesis of meteors made of antiparticles was first proposed in 1940 and subsequently debated by several astronomers, physicists, and meteor researchers. This paper reviews the little-known discussion which also included the 1908 Tunguska event as possibly caused by an exploding antimatter meteor or comet. From a modern perspective the discussion may appear futile and of little scientific value—after all, antimatter meteors do not exist—but from a historical perspective the episode is of considerable interest

Antimatter · Astronomy · Astrophysics · Linguistics · Nuclear physics · Physics · Positron · Historical Astronomy and Related Studies · History and Developments in Astronomy · Philosophy · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life