(meteorobs) OT -Proceeding with IR block fireballdetonationsystem.

[Chris Peterson]

Well, it's an interesting project. I believe that all details of the 
explosion are likely to be smaller than the pixel scale of the system, so 
information will have to be extracted from the light curve alone. By 
filtering, you are essentially trying to isolate a narrow portion of that 
curve: what's going on just before and just after a fragmentation event, as 
well as the production of any debris, will probably be invisible. The 
problem is the combination of the narrow dynamic range of cameras and the 
huge dynamic range of meteors (even of the much smaller population of 
fireballs).

One thing to consider would be setting up a simple photometric system to 
monitor allsky brightness. Such a device could have a very wide dynamic 
range, and return a high quality light curve for the brighter part of the 
event. Another thing to do would be to set up several cameras, operating at 
different sensitivities. This would allow you to reconstruct more of the 
meteor path, by using only unsaturated data.

The problem, of course, with any experiments like these is that you only get 
a few really bright fireballs each year. Makes for slow progress!

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "stange" <stange34 at sbcglobal.net>
To: "Global Meteor Observing Forum" <meteorobs at meteorobs.org>
Sent: Friday, November 28, 2008 11:41 PM
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) OT -Proceeding with IR block 
fireballdetonationsystem.


> What I am attempting Chris is to determine the internal manner & shape of 
> a
> fireballs explosion.
>
> I believe a fireball that fractures (from previously formed weaknesses)
> before an explosion will be different in the coherent (visible) light 
> shape
> than a fireball that explodes due to the difference in frontal & rear
> pressure, and both of these would be different from one that is terminally
> consumed as a bright flash. And anything else I do not know about in the 
> way
> fireballs explode. Like how it (really) fragments or spreads fragments at
> the time of the peak explosion IR emission which obliterates photography.
>
> All explosions as you mention start as a point source, but is there a 
> shape
> to it visible in white light that can suggest how or why it exploded? Or,
> how fragments separate during an explosion?
>
> This system would be useless for normal meteors and is not intended for
> that. I hope a blown up image (might) yield unexpected detail and results
> given the crude way I am attempting to image it. It's all a guess as to 
> what
> the result will be.....and not knowing is my driving force.
>
> Larry
> YCS