(meteorobs) Perseid pix

[bmccurdy at telusplanet.net]

Quoting Ed Majden <epmajden at shaw.ca>:

>     Dr. Jeremy Tatum and Dr. Roy Bishop just had a research paper published
> in the Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, April 2005, 99:
> 61-64, entitled "A Precise Measurement of a Leonid Meteor.  

   Thanks, Ed. Speaking of RASC publications (and thanks for the reminder) the 
Observer's Handbook 2003 featured a brilliant Leonid fireball as its cover 
photo. The colour sequence is very similar to that on the image linked by 
Javor, green, then pinkish, then brilliant white around the explosiopn point. 
In particular, the early (highest) portion of the trails are virtually 
identical shades of green. No doubt the oxygen lines that Ed referred to. 

   Quick question #2: the fact (?) that it's oxygen suggests an atmospheric, 
rather than meteoric, origin. I always thought that colours in meteors were 
generated by the incoming particles themselves. Wrong again?  

   Bruce