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(meteorobs) Anomalous meteors
I'm glad to see the meteorobs list back again! Thanks Lew!
The earlier thread about dark meteors and other anomalous events was
interesting. I have always kept notes of any strange or interesting meteors
and features I have observed during my sessions. So I went through all my
previous reports (some going waay back a loong time ago) to see what I
could find.
In my 11 years of meteor observing, and IMO style recording since 1995, I
have never seen anything similar to what Dave English has described some
time ago. Here are my feelings to some anomalous meteors according to the
observing experience I have.
Wavering meteors.
No doubt in my mind, these are real. I am not talking about curved meteors
or those completely changing directions. Curved meteors are a different
story. A wavering meteor will still follow a straight trajectory, but will
appear to zigzag or ripple *slightly* as it travels. I have observed this
effect subtly on a small number of meteors, but only one was very obvious.
It is still fresh in my mind. In July 1994, while observing in the late
evening from my backyard, a magnitude -2 slow speed sporadic in the
northeast caught my eye. It was a long persistent 30 degrees path, lasting
a few seconds. I had time for a good long look at it, so optical illusion
or atmospheric effect is out of question. The meteor traveled about
parallel to the horizon, and "wavered" back and forth quite obviously at
least 3 times before fading out. Could this effect be caused by the
meteoroid spinning as it plunges into the atmosphere? I always believed
this was the cause, but I have trouble understanding the exact process?
Photographic evidence is available. A good example is a wavering Perseid
shot in Capricornus on page 90 of the August 1997 Sky&Tel. It looks quite
convincing to me. The caption beside the photo claims that at least 1 out
of every 200 meteors follow a slightly wavering path. Wonder where that
data came from? Has there ever been any research into this topic?
Curved meteors.
I have noticed on several of my older reports going back years ago, I often
mentioned as remarks that I have seen a curved meteor. Years later, there
were seen less often, and now I never see this effect anymore. I believe
somehow my eyes were tricked into seeing curved paths when I would turn my
head quickly to see a meteor already moving...a well known optical
illusion. Another factor are birds and insects. For instance, on August 4/5
1992, I observed an amazing "S" shaped path from a meteor of magnitude 3
that lasted at least a few seconds. It even originated from near the
Perseids radiant. A number of nights later, I saw a similar meteor but soon
realized to my disappointment that it was only a bird flying around, under
lit from street lights. I still have my 1992 Perseids plotting chart with
all meteors linear, except for that strange bird plot going all over the
constellations. I might still see curved meteors on occasion, but never
note them anymore as I know they are not real and immediately dismiss them.
Double meteors.
These are quite rare and breathtaking. There is a difference between
"double" meteors and simultaneous ones, often seen during major showers
such as the Perseids or Leonids. The difference with double meteors is
having at least two of them travelling very close together on similar
paths, and both meteors with very similar magnitudes, trains, ect...
Only twice I observe these double meteors. One of the most visually
breathtaking event of my years of meteor observing so far came on the
evening of May 4 1991. At 22:45 EDT, the Eta Aquarids radiant still some 20
degrees below horizon. Suddenly at that time, I noticed two bright meteors
appear at the same time low in the east. They were strikingly similar. Both
brightened to yellow-white magnitude -3 or -4 as they travelled together
quickly straight up to the zenith, separated by 5 degrees. They kept racing
and I had to turn my head to keep following them! The first one
extinguished after about 80 degrees. The second one went further going well
over 100 degrees path. Both left brief but brightly glowing trains behind.
On August 20, 1988, evening 23:00 EDT, I observed another long path
"double" meteor. This time, these were only magnitudes +3, but still
impressive. Both meteors began instantaneously near Cygnus, separated by a
few degrees only, and plunged together into the eastern horizon. They
seemed to converge together as they got further away near the horizon. They
quickly disappeared behind the neighbour's house. Their visible path went
at least 80 degrees.
Earth grazers.
These are actually quite common, especially during the peak of a major
shower when the radiant is at or just below the horizon by a few degrees.
During that time, meteors are usually more scarce but some spectacular long
paths can appear. Some paths can travel more than half the length of the
sky or perhaps more. A few more nice earthgrazers I have seen... On May 4/5
1992, shortly after midnight, a high velocity grazer of magnitude +2,
possibly from the Eta Aquarids, shot over 100 degrees in the sky. While
observing on October 4/5 of that same year, I got a medium speed +2
magnitude sporadic covering almost 130 degrees of sky, from Orion to the
northern horizon! It just kept going and going! On April 19/20 1996, there
was a very nice sporadic of +1 magnitude on a 90 degrees path. More
recently last year, during the night of April 30/May 1st, at 7:38 UT (3:38
EST) were 2 similar ETAs only 10 seconds apart. The first one, close to the
zenith, split the sky with 60 degrees or more in no time. The second one
followed in almost the same location and shot some 35 degrees.
Variable velocities.
I suppose these are simply the effect of foreshortening from meteors close
to a radiant, or from long meteors travelling further away, and appearing
to slow done. Usually they also get fainter as they become more distant.
One interesting and different one I saw deserves mention. It was during the
Geminids on Dec 13/14 1988. I was observing around 21:30 local EST, when
this bright meteor shot fairly fast from near Gemini and descended on a
long path beyond Orion. Oddly, as it descended and slowed down toward the
horizon, it actually got gradually brighter. This yellow-white "ball"
seemed to come to a near stop, with a magnitude reaching -4 or more, then
it suddenly blinked out. There were no hint of any train. It looked just
like a Roman candle firework.
Electrophonic sounds.
Only once. It was a July 1985 evening observation (boy, that was looong
ago). After a quiet evening of watching for satellites and learning
constellations, I was about to quit for the night, when suddenly it
happened. A large fireball in the south, brighter than Venus was
immediately accompanied by a loud, clear "whooossh". A sound much
comparable to the propane burner of a hot air balloon. The fireball had a
"thick" appearance. It was yellow-white and with a bright 20 second train
following. It left no doubt in my young mind that the sound was associated
with the meteor. Things were quiet around at the time, and there were no
indications that something else would have produced the sound. The
neighborhood where I observed at that time had several electrical lines on
poles passing over my backyard. For that reason, I still don't rule out the
possibility of a real electrophonic event.
"Skipping" meteors.
As I observed the Ursids on December 22 1988, in the early evening after
sunset, I saw what looked like a strange faint Ursid meteor appearing in
and out quickly at least 5 times, much like a rock skipping on a pond. It
left me wondering if it could be really a meteor. I then went to sleep, and
woke up to observe the last hour of darkness before dawn. Despite observing
through a bedroom window, with a full moon (!) and awful limiting
magnitude, it appeared the Ursids were putting on a show. I was surprised
by a few nice meteors. Perhaps the most interesting was another "skipping"
meteor at 6:40 local EDT; this time a -2 magnitude yellow-white Ursid that
flashed about 5 times. I suppose meteors don't really skip. This feature is
probably caused by faint meteors suddenly flaring to visibility as they
move.
Nebulous meteors.
I sometimes see a meteor surrounded with a faint "halo", especially some
bright ones. I believe most of the time, this is a result of atmospheric
haze. Or perhaps a glare into my glasses. Ever since I began wearing
contact lenses while observing, I noticed much less problems with
reflections. I also find that everything looks sharper and more pinpoint
with contact lenses compared to glasses, despite identical prescriptions
with both.
Vivid colored meteors.
I nearly always see color in meteors with magnitudes of +2 or brighter. I
also consider white as a color. Magnitudes +3 are more rarely colored and
for anything fainter, I barely, if ever see any color. Most of the time,
the color observed is subtle, usually comparable to naked eye star color.
More unusual, but not rare are the really vivid colored meteors. I seem to
have observed the most vivid green meteors in December for some reason.
During the Geminids peak night of 1988, I had 2 strongly colored green
meteors of magnitude -3. Even the trains they left had a slight greenish
tone. For the early morning hours of December 22 1988, I saw 2 Ursids of
magnitudes -2 and -3, also with vivid green colors. Much more recently last
year, I was heading out to Casselman to observe on Dec 12/13. It was
shortly before local midnight and as I drove on, a Geminid fireball of
magnitude -8 to -10 went by with a brilliant deep green color!
Pierre Martin
Ottawa, Ontario
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