(meteorobs) blind spots and black meteors

[Kim Youmans]

Richard,
        Nebulous meteors, as opposed to dark/black meteors, definitely emit 
light.  What I saw were not artifacts, they were slow moving, tear-drop 
shaped meteors the magnitude of which was not difficult to estimate.  The 
two I saw on the Quad peak night were both SPO's and came from opposite 
sides of the sky.

Kim Y.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Kramer" <kramer at sria.com>
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 12:25 PM
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) blind spots and black meteors


> 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
>
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