APOD: Leonids Over Monument Valley (2012 Nov 19)

[moonstruck]

30

[raimon99]

30

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]In this illustration, the gravity of a large galaxy cluster not only bends the light of a much more distant galaxy but focuses and brightens it into multiple images. Credit: NASA/ESA/L. Calcada[/color][/b]

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There is but one meteor in the APOD

The massive butts buttes of Monument Valley warp the fabric space and cause light to be deflected from its original path. The gravity of the massive buttes is so strong, it not only bends, brightens and distorts the light of distant stars & meteors behind it but creates multiple images of these objects.

Astro Bob: Massive objects warp the fabric space and cause light to be deflected from its original path. The gravity of a large galaxy cluster is so strong, it not only bends, brightens and distorts the light of distant galaxies behind it but creates multiple images of the object. The investigating team found three magnified images of MACS0647-JD along the outskirts of the cluster.

[owlice]

I counted 30.

Yes, they are parallel. No surprise there!

The meteors appear parallel because they all fall to Earth from the meteor shower radiant

The image is "a composite of six exposures of about 30 seconds each." It is NOT a fake. Sheesh!

[Rise22]

I found 32

[swelch84]

30 meteors

[neufer]

[athena]

So what are the correct answers? How many, what is that yellow blob, and how can the lines be parallel?

[sunlitho]

The reason for the parallel showing is the trajectory of the Earth thru the dust trail. I counted 32 meteors in the photo.

[Chris Peterson]

So what are the correct answers? How many, what is that yellow blob, and how can the lines be parallel?

The yellow blob is a meteor train- dust and ionized gas left behind for several minutes after a bright meteor. The meteor that produced it was not captured in this image sequence.

The lines are not parallel, but diverge from the shower radiant. However, if you image a narrow field far from the radiant, that divergence is subtle.

[None]

To 'WCorvi' and 'rkt':

Did you guys even read the description??!?!?!?!?

[ritwik]

30 meteors http://markup.io/v/pj5fvyf69j7p

[neufer]

[b][color=#0000FF]A famous depiction of the[/color][/b] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonids]1833 meteor storm[/url][b][color=#0000FF], produced in 1889 for the Seventh-day Adventist book Bible Readings for the Home Circle[/color][/b]

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how can the lines be parallel?

The lines are not parallel, but diverge from the shower radiant. However, if you image a narrow field far from the radiant, that divergence is subtle.

View of Monument Valley is looking due south on U.S. Route 163.

The meteor paths are nearly parallel because the radiant & anti-radiant of the Leonids are both approximately 90º away.

If the meteor paths were horizontal it would be ~ midnight.

If the meteor paths were vertical it would be ~ 6:00 AM.

(Not Photoshopped )

As such it appears to be approximately 4:00 AM on Route 163.

[Chris Peterson]

If the meteor paths were horizontal it would be ~ midnight.

If the meteor paths were vertical it would be ~ 6:00 AM. :arrow:

As such it appears to be approximately 4:00 AM on Route 163.

Yes, between 4 and 5 am. This image has a 38° wide field (slightly rotated with respect to the true horizon) and is centered in Puppis. Many stars and asterisms are identifiable. The center of the field is 150° from the Leonid radiant.

[petejworth]

You guys have been had! This photo is a fake, for several reasons. The most obvious is that all the meteor paths are parallel; they would have to be 90 degrees from Leo for this to be true, yet Leo only rises a couple hours before sunrise now (thus being only 30 degrees from the horizon). Further, forget the meteors - can you identify even ONE star in the picture? NO? That's because they aren't real.

Fake? Strong language. They do say it's a composite!

[johnenowak]

I count 29.

[Guest]

I counted 31 including the faint almost ghostlike one in the bottom left center almost hidden by a slightly larger one.

[Anthony Barreiro]

Lovely picture. At first I thought it was a picture of this year's Leonid shower, and I was bummed, because it has been cloudy and rainy here in Northern California, so I missed the Leonids. But I well remember the 2001 Leonid meteor storm. I was coming home from a late night of <ahem> socializing. It was cold and clear, so I walked up the hill in the park near where I was living. The sky was full of meteors! I swear I thought I could hear the brightest whooshing through the atmosphere!

I count 30 meteors in this picture, including the smoke trail. If others see 31, that's more proof that I don't have the sharpest eyes anymore.

[User]

how many meteorites in image..?

30 , if you count only the white streaks

and 31 , if you include the yellowish bloch near center

[Chris Peterson]

how many meteorites in image..?

None <g>.

[neufer]

[b][i][size=150][color=#964B00]meteorite centered in Puppis[/color][/size][/i][/b]

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This image has a 38° wide field (slightly rotated with respect to the true horizon) and is centered in Puppis.

Many stars and asterisms are identifiable.

The center of the field is 150° from the Leonid radiant.

• Just 30° from the Leonid anti-radiant

[StarGrizzly]

I count exactly 30 white streak.

[Beyond]

[b][i][size=150][color=#964B00]meteorite centered in Puppis[/color][/size][/i][/b]

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I hope THAT Puppis meteorite landed far away from where feet go

[Cosmo12]

There are 30.

[robolt]

30 Took a bit to see the one in lower left.