A Sporadic Meteor

[Russell]

Here's an accidental photo of a sporadic meteor captured at Kelling whilst taking test shots for focusing.

 

 

Modified Canon 400D attached to a 10" Orion Optics Newtonian.

 

The insert shows the "cork-screw" like tail in more detail.

 

 

[red dwalf]

nice capture.

[Daz Type-R]

That is a fantastic shot, even if it was not planned.

[Orion]

Nice. What causes the wiggle effect? Is this inherent in the way the sensor works - e.g. something to do with the way the light takes time to be recorded on part of the sensor, but then there is a ? "dead time" which the sensor doesn't record? Or some other effect.?

[Russell]

The cork-screw effect is a real phenomenon. The meteor enters the atmosphere and the friction due to the aerodynamic drag causes heat. Close to the meteor the trail is dominated by forced convection but further away from the meteor natural convection becomes more prominent. There is also a mixing effect caused by the wake of the meteor that contributes to the effect.

A simikar example may be the con-trail from an aircraft engine. Close to the engine the vapour trail is well defined but away from the engine the trail breaks down, often in a well defined pattern.

Thermodynamics and fluid mechanics have a lot to answer for.