(meteorobs) Re: Perseid- odd red, no tail

Robert Lunsford lunro.imo.usa at cox.net
Thu Aug 18 15:35:14 EDT 2005


Jason and All,

It sounds as if you witnessed a Perseid "Earthgrazer". This occurs when the 
radiant lies near the horizon. At this time of night a Perseid meteor enters 
the Earth's atmosphere at a shallow angle, allowing it to last much longer 
than usual. They often appear as just "dot's" with no visible tail or train. 
As the night progresses, Perseids enter the atmosphere at a steeper angle 
and then reach the thicker portions of the atmosphere. It is then that they 
appear as "normal' meteors with sub-second durations.

I hope this helps!

Robert Lunsford


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jason Blumstein" <dirtyjerz2005 at yahoo.com>
To: <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2005 7:25 AM
Subject: (meteorobs) Perseid- odd red, no tail


> THis meteor appeared at 9:50 EST on Wednesday August 10th.  I did not 
> measure the dec or RA, but it appeared to come from the Perseid radiant 
> and ran across the top of the big dippers handle (seemed to originate from 
> north star and traveled west).  It was a red dot that just shot across the 
> sky (with no tail) and the path of the dot jumped up a little bit just 
> before it faded. The "dots" trip expanded from the pot of the dipper out 
> beyond the handle.  it lasted between approx a second and a half.  I have 
> never heard of or seen a meteor like this.  Was this a meteor without a 
> tail?  and why was it red?  was very cool to see, but I'm curious as the 
> the characteristics of this meteor.
>
> Thank you for any responses and I hope we all get clear skies tonight,
> Jason



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