(meteorobs) blind spots and black meteors

[Richard Kramer]

At 08:09 AM 12/3/04 -0500, you wrote:
>>>>>I defintely agree with Norm that nebulous meteors exist.
>
>   Once you've seen one (I've been fortunate enough to see four) it's a 
> sight you won't forget.  While observing the Quadrantids about four years 
> ago, I saw two within the space of an hour, traveling in opposite 
> directions.  I've seen other meteors that seemed to be "partially" nebulous.
>
>   Norm's description of nebulous meteors is absolutely dead-on, based on 
> what I saw.  Sure would be nice if someone could put forth a good 
> explanation for them.

This phenomenon has to be an artifact of the eye.

There is no way an object of any kind could interact with the atmosphere in 
an observable way without ionizing the atmosphere and emitting light. And 
if the object were passing by outside of the atmosphere, it would have to 
be immense to be observable as a dark object.

I don't think floaters could account for the effect, but it could easily be 
due to photobleaching of the retina by a bright point source during a 
sudden eye movement.

Richard