[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
(meteorobs) Nebulous, wiggly and dark meteors
Looks like the serious meteor viewing season must be over for
Lew to lead us into a discussion of nebulous, wiggly and dark meteors.
Thank you very much Lew, now the fun begins!
For the newer members:
I have to disagree on Lew's assessment that dark meteors are
just bugs or birds, perhaps some are but not all. He has never seen
them under magnification as I have. Dark meteors produce a pointed
shock wave that are about 4-6 arcminutes wide and 1.5 to 5 times that
in length (the Moon is normally about 30 arcminutes wide). I once saw
a short dark meteor within the V of Taurus. My sightings were by 10X50
binoculars in an area with about +5 LM (limiting magnitude) on good
nights. Dark meteors are in dark line, it's the visible displacement
of atmosphere as seen from the side which optically appears as a dark
line, something like this ===> where it is long and => when it's
short. As the dark meteor direction of travel rotates toward the
observer further, it will look like a half circle, which I've seen,
and a point dark meteor would then be a full circle.
Prior to joining meteorobs last January I had been asking
questions of scientists about the dark meteors and other observations
I've made. I don't know why I've seen them in more detail than the
experianced members but I did use my binoculars a great deal for much
of a 1 1/2 years before joining, then I used them much less as I began
watching the entire sky for all objects and my dark meteor sightings
under magnification (where stucture can be seen) pretty much ended.
Most members rejected my observations but that's OK, I know
what I've seen many times in good detail and I know they have not.
Dave English
Oceanside, California
To UNSUBSCRIBE from the 'meteorobs' email list, use the Web form at:
http://www.tiacdot net/users/lewkaren/meteorobs/subscribe.html