[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: (meteorobs) Mystery Leonids photo ...please help
OK, I've managed to figure out the star field. You are WAY off in
identifying the radiant at the left edge of the photo. The four stars on the
left edge of the image are the southern end of Corvus: alpha, beta, epsilon,
and zeta. Crux is just right of center, with the Carina nebulousity
prominent above it. Your object is bracketed by beta, gamma, and delta
Chameleon, putting it very close to the south celestial pole. It is
certainly not a Leonid. The background stars show no loss of brightness, so
we can rule out an image diffused by high thin clouds. (There is definitely
a cloud in the image, near mu and nu Centauri.) My guess is that this is a
lens flare from a bright meteor outside the frame. It's too well-smoothed to
be a direct image of a meteor.
Chris
> From: "Leo S." <l.stachowicz@btinternet.com>
> Reply-To: meteorobs@atmob.org
> Date: Sun, 02 Dec 2001 13:47:56 +0000
> To: meteorobs@atmob.org
> Subject: (meteorobs) Mystery Leonids photo ...please help
>
>
> I have a photograph of what appears to be the remnants of an exploding
> bolidie,but i cannot be sure as i have never come across anything like it
> before !
>
> Please have a look at the photo here:
>
> <http://www.btinternet.com/%7El.stachowicz/pics/leo-2001/D2-UK05_Leo012_burs
> t.jpg>
>
> The reasons i think it is the remnants of an exploding meteor are
> 1. the fireball which i also captured on film(an unrelated event) seems to
> have a similar green textured haze surrounding the brightest part of it
> (see the photos on the main page about 1/2 way down here:
> <http://www.btinternet.com/~l.stachowicz/pics/leo-2001/leonids-2001.htm> )
> and
> 2. I recall seeing a similar green texture after a bolidie exploded on the
> same night(but was not captured on film)
>
> If it is an exploding meteor i'm not sure that it is a Leonid,as the
> radiant is at the same height in the photo on the far left(a faint Leonid
> just below left center of the frame points back to the radiant),and the
> spread of the debris seems to indicate a vertical,rather than horizontal
> meteor which caused the debris.
>
> I've checked both frames either side of the photo in question,and can see
> no evidence of the event itself,or a persistent train,so my feeling is that
> i must have started the exposure immediately after the event which caused
> the debris ...if only i'd started a second or 2 earlier!!
>
> There is also the possibility that a bright meteor which passed just
> outside my frame may have produced the light which then reflected off a
> cloud in my frame during the exposure.
>
> Any comments or ideas on the matter would be much appreciated.
>
> Leo
>
> The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
> If you are interested in complete links on the 2001 LEONIDS, see:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
> To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
> http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html
>
The archive and Web site for our list is at http://www.meteorobs.org
If you are interested in complete links on the 2001 LEONIDS, see:
http://www.meteorobs.org/storms.html
To stop getting email from the 'meteorobs' list, use the Web form at:
http://www.meteorobs.org/subscribe.html
Follow-Ups:
References: