Perseid Meteor (3 images)


Date: 12 Aug 1989
Time: 23:21:55s UT
Exposure: length (not recorded) @ f2.4
Equipment: 4 cameras with 50mm FL f2 standard lenses 
Film: T-Max 100
Film: T-Max 400
Film: Fujichrome 400
Film: Kodak hight speed infra red, used with infra red filter.

Area: Camelopardalis
Site: Prestwich, Manchester, England


Notes:

After my success last year in photographing a Perseid meteor with 
infra red film, I decided to take it one stage further. I wanted 
to compare the infra red image with an ordinary one. A bracket was 
made to hold four cameras on a tripod, each loaded with a different 
film : Kodak high speed infra red, T-Max 100, T-Max 400, and 
Fujichrome 400. To take an exposure I first covered all the lenses 
with a sheet of black card, and after opening all the shutters, I 
removed the card. This was the only way I could be sure of starting 
the exposures at the same time. At the end of the exposure the
procedure was reversed.

After exposing a full 36 exposure film in each camera, I had 
recorded two Perseid meteors, both of which I saw visually. The 
first was just a plain streak on the films but the second (shown 
here) was a very bright image showing multiple flares with an
explosion at the end. As I saw it visually, I would say it was a 
fireball, but could not give a visual magnitude estimate.

There is quite a difference between the infra red image and the 
other taken in white light. The infra red image shows hardly any 
flaring. The T-Max 100 film recorded a better image than the T-Max 
400 mainly due to sky fog hiding the trail somewhat. The Fujichrome 
image shows that the colour of the trail changes as it passes through 
the atmosphere. 

An enlargement of the T-Max 100 image shows an interesting feature. 
The flares seem to form a spiral around the main meteor trail. Could 
it be that the meteor was spinning very quickly as it moved along ?



Michael Oates.