[meteorite-list] Aussie Photographs Meteor Through Telescope

From: GeoZay at aol.com <GeoZay_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 2009 11:15:44 EDT
Message-ID: <d16.50dafb66.37caa020_at_aol.com>

>>IF this were a timed exposure, then the head would have been a constant
diameter along the trail. IMHO<<

I looked at this photo on the website and made a copy with which I
brightened and enlarged. In my opinion, this photo looks a lot like what I would
expect of a meteor thru a small telescope. With my brightened version, you
can see a solid trail along with the squiggily residual train outside of the
trail. I get the impression that this meteor was probably in the range of
-2 to about -6 in magnitude. Not likely to produce any meteorites. The head
wouldn't necessarily be a constant diameter along the trail. The meteor
could easily start out very thin and fatten as it travels along and flares
with ablation. It can also flare off and on or dim and bright...that is in
and out of the camera's ability to capture it fully. It looks normal to me.
Maybe not all meteors will look like this, but still nothing unusual. It's a
 keeper....
George Zay
Received on Sat 29 Aug 2009 11:15:44 AM PDT