[meteorite-list] Astro Mikes meteor streak Photo

From: Kelly Beatty <jkellybeatty_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:28:38 -0700
Message-ID: <3665B6C1A0064BEEB3C6F305AB5A86AB_at_NightSkyGuy>

Dean and list...

when I first saw Mike's image, my first impression was, "hmm, must have been
after fragmentation, because look at all those pieces!" too many to be plane
lights, IMHO. also, as I've plotted the photo against a star chart to determine
scale, etc, I can tell you that the orientation of the streak set is entirely
consistent with the generally west-to-east track derived from the York video.

moreover, the set of streaks is only 0.06 degree wide. that's a small angle!
geometrically correcting for the photo's azimuth of 62 degrees, if those
streaks are lights on a plane at 40,000 feet they'd span only 48 feet. to be on
the wingtips of even a midsize airliner (~100 feet), it'd have to have been
impossibly higher up.

the other thing that caught my attention (besides the vignetting) was the
general glow around the set of trails. this halo is consistent with optical
scatter from a very bright source (perhaps on slightly dew-covered optics;
remember, it was 1 a.m.) and *not* consistent with the relatively dim lights
from an airplane.

Rich K: you'll have to cut Mike a little slack. he is just starting out in
astronomy (last January, in fact). I don't know about you, but my astrophotos
weren't nearly this good after having been in the hobby for just 6 months.


clear skies,
Kelly

****************
J. Kelly Beatty
Senior Contributing Editor
SKY & TELESCOPE
617-416-9991
SkyandTelescope.com
Received on Mon 13 Jul 2009 12:28:38 AM PDT