(meteorobs) re:: OT query: contrail-like formations on jet wing tips--v...
YoungBob2 at aol.com
YoungBob2 at aol.com
Mon Mar 7 00:04:21 EST 2005
In a message dated 3/6/2005 10:54:53 PM Eastern Standard Time,
bmccurdy at telusplanet.net writes:
<< mment from any of the many
experts on the list (and you know who you are). Over the years I have seen
--
or should I say, suspected -- maybe four or five dark meteors, compared to a
thousand times that number of luminous ones. Each has been a shock, but the
last two or three times I kept my wits sufficiently to notice its path
across
the sky, and in each case it was fully or partially across the Milky Way. So
I
wonder if perhaps dark meteors can be seen in silhouette against the Milky
Way
in a similar manner as dark nebulae? >>
Bruce:
I, too, wondered about this but have concluded, at least in my case,
that I was probably seeing "floaters" in the eye. I tested this in
a planetarium, where I occasionally saw a dark meteor. Couldn't
be real! And I noticed that sometimes they seemed to have some
tint of color to them, until I turned off the red "Exit" sign!
I also have noticed a class of very dim (6 mag?), very fast
"meteors" usually at the periphery. Perhaps one or two in 15
minutes. Also, when I got up or sat down and had moved my
head, it seemed more likely to see one. These also I noticed
in the planetarium, I had always ignored these little flashes
when observing. This brings into question observations of dim
meteors, to me.
Clear skies,
Bob Young
State Museum of Pennsylvania Planetarium
Harrisburg
More information about the Meteorobs
mailing list