(meteorobs) Meteor colours

[Ed Majden]

on 3/27/05 2:45, David Entwistle at david.entwistle at dial.pipex.com wrote:

> Hello again,
> 
> I hope you can help me with the following question. If there isn't a
> definitive answer, I'd welcome opinions.
> 
> During the morning of 19th November, 2002 I took a photograph of a
> bright Leonid [1]. When developed, the print shows a distinct range of
> colours initially green, then yellow, white and finally orange. As I
> didn't notice these colours when I saw the meteor, I put it down to a
> peculiarity of the photographic process and thought no more about it.
> 

    This discussion was fully covered in previous messages on this form.
You can check the archives.  The only way to see what is contributing to the
colour is to record a spectrum and see which elements are present.  With
fast meteors like the Perseids and the Leonids the trailing "green" colour
is probably attributable to the forbidden line of Oxygen at 557.7 nm.  This
line appears at a higher altitude than the main body radiation and is
present alone. This line is also persistent lasting 1 - 2 seconds.  The
other colours are blends of the other elements present in the spectrum and
also how you eye and colour films react to this.

Ed Majden