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Re: (meteorobs) curving meteors?
Jim Shaffer, Jr. wrote:
>
> A friend has a picture of a Leonid that shows a definite curve at the end of its
> flight. This doesn't appear to be a drifting train, because the exposure wasn't
> that long and only one small part of it was curved. Is there any good
> explanation for this? The only thing that comes to my mind is that perhaps the
> meteoroid was burning asymmetricly and this altered its aerodynamics, but I'm
> unsure whether the average meteoroid is big enough to show any aerodynamic
> effects.
Without seeing the photo, I cannot say for certain, but depending on the
amount of curvature in the trail, I would be suspicious of the camera
lens. Many lenses, especially the wide angle, or lower quality ones, can
have significant amounts of "barrel" or "pincushion" distortion, which
will curve any straight line. This effect is most pronounced if the
meteor trail crosses perpendicular to a radial, and is near the edge of
the frame.
Mike Linnolt
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