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Geminids meteors on Sat/Sun night
#21
Still a little busy, but did find these:

The 1972 Great Daylight Fireball:

http://youtu.be/wIv7wL9nWMQ
http://youtu.be/4WlCfuPrszU

That, of course, is the rare type. They happen more often than you might think but since most of the planet's surface is unpopulated they are rarely seen. Also, if they do occur over a populated area, they are rarely bright enough to be seen in daylight like that one.

Slightly more common one - basket ball sized Earthgrazer:

http://youtu.be/h5RdX_vW_mA

This is a more typical Earthgrazer you might witness during a meteor storm:

http://youtu.be/Vtu31zrSe8o

And this one looks to me to be a very good example of one:

http://youtu.be/tLrUie4EvO0

PunaMauka2, you mentioned a smoke trail. Meteors can leave two types of trail. One's called a "train" the other a "smoke trail". The former is a trail of ionized atoms and molecules that remain in an excited state for a few seconds before losing their energy and fading. Sometimes they stay bright enough for a long enough time for upper-level winds to move the trails, so they can look a little spread out and crooked.

The latter, a smoke trail, can often be seen from a larger meteor and it is pretty close to being real smoke. It's ablated material from the meteor and is probably quite similar to soot. They tend to last a little longer, but of course are much rarer.
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#22
Tom, just a quick note for now, as i am on my way out--- thanks so much for the awesome variety of links! ...and the explanation about visible meteor trails. you have answered a question that has been nagging me for some time about what i have seen. guessing what i saw was the "train" type.
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#23
Thanks for the links, TomK. Any idea what the other object is in the first video?

Thanks also for the descriptions, I think I saw a "train" the other night.
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#24
There's a good and concise article on meteor trains by Phil Plait (The Bad Astronomer) here:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badast...ring-tale/

and a great video of a "persistent train" here (this is really cool!):

http://www.universetoday.com/116003/pers...timelapse/
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#25
Paul - sorry, I missed your question earlier. I don't know what the other object is, but it's clearly out-of-focus so has to be relatively close to the camera. My guess is a reflection of a nearby light.
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#26
I look forward to these every year and drive up above the marine layer to see them but I don't make it every year. This year we actually had rain and also I was in the hospital so I'm putting it on my calendar for next year Smile. I always associate them with the holiday season. Mele kalikimaka

Pam in CA
Pam in CA
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#27
Good to see you back in action, Pam!
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#28
Well right now action is getting to be home and awake and not breathing out of an oxygen tube but I'll try to make things a little more festive#127876;

Pam in CA
Pam in CA
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#29
Oops looks like my Christmas tree got lost in translation Smile

Pam in CA
Pam in CA
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#30
Tom! i know it's been a little while since this thread was active, but if i may, now i have a chance to share a little something further from exploring the subject of Earth-grazing fireballs i found quite intriguing.

i had previously mentioned when looking into the subject i noticed from a short list of notable fireballs that i had actually been in the area of one at the time it occurred in 2006 (Japan). with some needed language help and then to my surprise and great delight we discovered there was some video taken of that fireball. what's more, i also found out that i was very much within the direct path of this fireball 70 km overhead traveling at 14 km/sec! (NE Tokyo area)....and never even knew nor heard about it after the fact ...until now. i wonder where i was during those exact minutes in the early evening. good chance i was out and about.


if interested to see, i hope these links to very short videos work ok:

sonotaco.jp/forum/download.php?id=3979&sid=949e8aeff3d183e64906779c3df833cc

http://sonotaco.sub.jp/report/2006/20060...TK1_G6.wmv

http://sonotaco.sub.jp/report/2006/20060...TK1_S9.wmv


looks like taken from cameras set to auto start by motion detection.

...from this page of what i am told are amateur astronomy enthusiasts in JP. with some cool maps and diagrams pertaining to the fireball as one briefly scrolls down.

http://sonotaco.jp/forum/viewtopic.php?t=912


----

ps that latest article and clips of those meteor train time lapse images you posted the link to are amazing! such wonderful aesthetic quality to the images as well.
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