Notes
from November 18:
Conditions were
ideal -- clear skies at about 42 degrees on a still, moonless November night
illuminated only by the milky way galaxy with its magnificent dust lanes.
Coffee proved unnecessary -- the first electrifying sight of a fireball arching overhead at 40 miles per second
sent us scurrying for our equipment. We used a digital
camcorder with a night-vision intensifier to tape hundreds of meteors, and
captured still pictures using Fuji 800 film on long exposures -- one of which is shown as the background of this page.
Clicking on the pictures below will allow you to download MPEG movies of some
of the best fireballs recorded by the camcorder. At the end is a 4-minute
movie containing a loop of the 40 best events spliced together to the music
of Spyro Gyra.
M34607 - bright double
The storm was
supposed to peak at about one meteor per second -- but we had been disappointed
before on previous trips. This time the experience exceeded our expectations.
Dozens of explosive fireballs lit the desert to the horizon, and several
"smokers" left long vapor trails that slowly disintegrated in stratospheric
winds. We had planned to recline, but instead we walked along
the mountain ridge, constantly turning our heads as the sky blazed with falling
stars -- pairs, trios, even four at once. The meteors seemed to come
in distinct clumps that started in the east, and gradually moved west.
M40351 - bright close-up
M40908 - close up
M43825 - triple
M44048 - well-structured
fireball
M50303 - long fireball
M50436 - burnout with
tail
M50440 - triple
M50711 - big fireball
M50920 - massive burnout
M51109 - nice bright burnout
M51709 - nice double
Over several
hours the storm gradually died out, and we were treated to a splendid sunrise
that left us wondering -- was that brilliant red caused by a high-altitude
haze of vaporized meteoric dust? Surrounded by the alien landscape
of standing rocks -- it was a most unearthly place to be bombarded by fragments
of another world. Click here for technical
analysis of the meteor shower, click pictures to enlarge, or else
click the hawk to continue your journey.
Click here to Visit Other INHL Destinations