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Re: (meteorobs) Leonids - colors?




>I'm not really sure if you can directly relate the visual colour of a
>meteor to the colour of the spectral lines that are present.  Perhaps Jiri
>Borovicka could provide a better answer to this.  What you see visually, is
>of course a blend of all the spectral line colours.  I would think that the
>"green" observed at the beginning of a meteor trail, could be directly
>correlated, as it is the only line present at that height. The other lines
>more or less occur at the same time, so would be a blend.

I have to agree with you about the difficulty of correlating visual colors
with physical meteor properties, Ed... A simple survey of colors perceived
by different witnesses when a fireball occurs at a large star party quickly
shows that there are HUGE variations in perceived color from one person to
another. (I am pretty sure of this fact anecdotally, as I've actually done
such surveys myself several times. And other experienced observers concur.)


As a general remark, though, I do NOT necessarily think that this fact
means individuals should NOT record meteor colors - but rather only that
we *currently* lack the appropriate correlations and corrections to relate
such perceived colors back to a physical observable. I may be alone in this
opinion, though, from what I have read in previous threads on our list. :)


However, in the rare cases where a very strong color perception is recorded
by more than one experienced observer at a time - particularly in two-color
cases like the 1999 Perseid I mentioned - it sure is intriguing to speculate
about physical correlatives for that perceived color... So, assuming that a
strong red impression at the end of a bright Perseid COULD be related back
to some particular group or COMPLEX of emission lines, what are the most
likely candidates for the species that might emit such a complex?

Just a curious question, :)
Lew Gramer

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