[meteorite-list] Photo of Fiery Object Over UK Mystifies Scientists

From: mark ford <markf_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:28:27 2004
Message-ID: <6CE3EEEFE92F4B4085B0E086B2941B3101439B_at_s-southern01.s-southern.com>

A spectrum would probably just tell you that it is yellow. I would think
that there is not enough detail (resolution) to show up any elemental
spectra. I tried running it through a Histogram/spectral plot in a
'paint program', but without a reference it is meaningless.

One other thought though is, that digital camera's see 'infra red' too,
where as normal camera's do not, so in theory if the 'fireball' was
bright hot fire and not a cold reflection (say from a contrail), then
the image would appear 'whiter' than it should do with a reflection
?(since the IR shows up as white) try taking a photo of a flame (or a
working IR TV remote control) with a digital camera, you will be able to
see the infra red portion that is invisible to the naked eye it will
appear white! Candle flames often appear 'white' in digital shots for
this very reason...

Mark Ford



-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin Fly Hill [mailto:khill_at_cpsmedical.com]=20
Sent: 13 October 2003 17:15
To: meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Photo of Fiery Object Over UK Mystifies
Scientists

At the risk of showing my igornace (vast), couldn't the photo be
subjected
to some type of spectrum analysis. Wouldn't a picture of a contrail
lighted
by the setting sun show a different spectrum than an exploding meteor?
Can
that be taken from a digital photo?
Fly Hill


----- Original Message -----=20
From: "Ron Baalke" <baalke_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>
To: "Meteorite Mailing List" <meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2003 10:45 AM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Photo of Fiery Object Over UK Mystifies
Scientists


>
>
> http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/mystery_monday_031013.html
>
> Photo of Fiery Object Mystifies Scientists
> By Robert Roy Britt
> space.com
> 13 October 2003
>
> A digital picture of a spectacular and apparently explosive event in
the
sky
> fooled a pair of seasoned NASA scientists, has other researchers
around
the
> globe mystified, and made a minor celebrity of a teenage photographer.
>
> Jonathan Burnett, 15, was photographing his friends skateboarding in
> Pencoed, Wales when one of them noticed a colorful fireball in the
sky.
> Burnett snapped a picture, then sent it to NASA scientists and asked
if
they
> knew what it was.
>
> Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell, who run NASA's Astronomy Picture of
the
> Day (APOD), posted the photograph on Oct. 1 and wrote that "a
sofa-sized
> rock came hurtling into the nearby atmosphere of planet Earth and
> disintegrated." They called the picture "one of the more spectacular
meteor
> images yet recorded."
>
> Problem is, it turns out, there was no meteor.
>
> Rampant speculation
>



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Received on Mon 13 Oct 2003 12:13:33 PM PDT