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(meteorobs) Re: CA fireball and meteor colors
>There was extensive discussion about the CA fireball on the Art Bell show
which begins at 11PM PDT. Art dabbles in occult items quite a lot,
unfortunately. The UFO gang was having a good time with this latest
incident. Let's declare now that this was indeed a fireball. All the
classic elements are present, including the green color. Ever hear of a
green plane crash? How would it be possible? Fuel burns orange. A UFO
buff will only think in terms of a manned craft of some type.
The majority of fireballs I've ever seen have green either alone or in combo
with blue. I did have an orange -8 Perseid in 1978, a memorable exception.
I have seen a few meteors look orange at low elevations (in degrees of arc),
surely due to thick or smoky atmosphere as George suggested. Other than
that direct cause of a color, it's up for grabs. Most terminal bursts I see
as the same color as the meteor. The slowest meteors tend to be orange, as
do almost all reentries.
As a recap, I see yellow as my dominant color, with blue and orange as
strong secondaries. Just a smattering of other colors, but never pure red.
Definitely I see more color than most observers, and intensely as well, a
hefty percentage as strong as airplane lights.. Mag +2 is where I start
losing color; almost 100% of meteors brighter than that are colored. The
rare white ones I see: are they pure magnesium? Couldn't be--this isn't
combustion, but rather ablation.
Later subscribers to the list ought to look at the earlier archives, when we
grilled colors extensively.
Norman