Starship Asterisk*

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090105.html

Besides the obvious meteor trail, I see a 2nd trail in this shot. It appears in three parts, starting just to the upper left of "bright bluish star Beta Scorpii". The 2nd part is to the lower right of BS, intersecting the bright meteor trail. The final part intersects the edge of the mountain. So, is this a 3X internal reflection of the bright trail in the optics, or an incredible 2nd meteor trail in the same exposure?

techntrek wrote:Besides the obvious meteor trail, I see a 2nd trail in this shot. It appears in three parts, starting just to the upper left of "bright bluish star Beta Scorpii". The 2nd part is to the lower right of BS, intersecting the bright meteor trail. The final part intersects the edge of the mountain. So, is this a 3X internal reflection of the bright trail in the optics, or an incredible 2nd meteor trail in the same exposure?

My guess would be a satellite. Many of these rotate or tumble, producing a variation in brightness (explaining why this is fragmented into three sections). There is so much stuff orbiting up there that it can be tricky to take a wide field shot like this without catching at least one satellite.

That makes sense.

------------------------------------------------
. Romeo and Juliet > Act III, scene V
.
JULIET: Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I:
. It is some *METEOR* that the sun exhales,
. To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
. And light thee on thy way to Mantua:
------------------------------------------------
. Julius Caesar > Act II, scene II

CALPURNIA: When beggars die, there are no *COMETS* seen;
. The heavens themselves blaze forth the death of princes.
------------------------------------------------
. The Taming of the Shrew > Act III, scene II
.
PETRUCHIO: Gentles, methinks you frown:
. And wherefore gaze this goodly company,
. As if they saw some wondrous monument,
. Some *COMET* or unusual prodigy?
------------------------------------------------
. Pericles, Prince of Tyre > Act V, scene I
.
MARINA: I am a maid,
. My lord, that ne'er before invited eyes,
. But have been gazed on like a *COMET*:
------------------------------------------------
. King John > Act III, scene IV
.
CARDINAL PANDULPH: No natural exhalation in the sky,
. No scope of nature, no distemper'd day,
. No common wind, no customed event,
. But they will pluck away his natural cause
. And call them *METEORS*, prodigies and signs,
. Abortives, presages and tongues of heaven,
. Plainly denouncing vengeance upon John.
.............................................
. Act V, scene II
.
LEWIS: But this effusion of such manly drops,
. This shower, blown up by tempest of the soul,
. Startles mine eyes, and makes me more amazed
. Than had I seen the vaulty top of heaven
. Figured quite o'er with burning *METEORS*.
------------------------------------------------
. King Richard II > Act II, scene IV
.
Captain: The bay-trees in our country are all wither'd
. And *METEORS* fright the fixed stars of heaven;
. The pale-faced moon looks bloody on the earth
. And lean-look'd prophets whisper fearful change;
------------------------------------------------
. The Comedy of Errors > Act IV, scene II
.
ADRIANA: What observation madest thou in this case
. Of his heart's *METEORS* tilting in his face?
------------------------------------------------
. Merry Wives of Windsor > Act II, scene II
.
FALSTAFF: it shall hang like a *METEOR*
. o'er the cuckold's horns.
------------------------------------------------
. King Henry VIII > Act V, scene IV
.
Man: I missed the *METEOR* once,
. and hit that woman; who cried out 'Clubs!'
------------------------------------------------
. King Henry IV, part I > Act I, scene I
.
KING HENRY IV: those opposed eyes,
. Which, like the *METEORS* of a troubled heaven,
. All of one nature, of one substance bred,
. Did lately meet in the intestine shock
. And furious close of civil butchery
.............................................
. Act II, scene IV
.
BARDOLPH: My lord, do you see these *METEORS*?
. do you behold these exhalations?
.
PRINCE HENRY: I do.
.
BARDOLPH: What think you they portend?
.
PRINCE HENRY: Hot livers and cold purses.
.............................................
. Act III, scene II

KING HENRY IV: By being seldom seen, I could not stir
. But like a *COMET* I was wonder'd at;
. That men would tell their children 'This is he;'
.............................................
. Act V, scene I
.
KING HENRY IV: And be no more an exhaled *METEOR*,
. A prodigy of fear and a portent
. Of broached mischief to the unborn times?
------------------------------------------------
. King Henry VI, part I > Act I, scene I
.
BEDFORD: Hung be the heavens with black, yield day to night!
. *COMETS*, importing change of times and states,
. Brandish your crystal tresses in the sky,
. And with them scourge the bad revolting stars
. That have consented unto Henry's death!
.............................................
. Act III, scene II
.
BASTARD OF ORLEANS: See, noble Charles, the beacon of our friend;
. The burning torch in yonder turret stands.
.
CHARLES: Now shine it like a *COMET* of revenge,
. A prophet to the fall of all our foes!
------------------------------------------

I was driving home from upstate NY on Sunday evening Jan 04 2009. I crossed the Tappanzee bridge, heading south about 7:00 PM. My wife was looking southish and saw an EXTREMELY bright fireball that rivaled Venus. It was visible for 3 or 4 seconds then it broke into several pieces. Did anyone else see this fireball. She said this was the brightest meteor she had ever seen. Unfortunately I was driving and saw nothing.

LISKY wrote:I was driving home from upstate NY on Sunday evening Jan 04 2009. I crossed the Tappanzee bridge, heading south about 7:00 PM. My wife was looking southish and saw an EXTREMELY bright fireball that rivaled Venus. It was visible for 3 or 4 seconds then it broke into several pieces. Did anyone else see this fireball. She said this was the brightest meteor she had ever seen. Unfortunately I was driving and saw nothing.

Probably unrelated (i.e., half a day later):

Fireball seen over Calgary
CALGARY -- A fireball reportedly lit up the early morning sky south of Calgary early Monday.
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada ... id=1144834
Calgary Herald: Monday, January 05, 2009

<<The Canadian Fireball Reporting Centre received about a dozen reports of a meteorite falling to earth at about 5:45 a.m. but the hazy conditions have made it difficult to verify. "I don't know how anyone saw it. There were a lot of clouds up there," said the University of Calgary's meteorite expert, Alan Hildebrand. "But it's possible there was a hole in the clouds that allowed them to see it. It's happened before." It could've been a meteorite or possibly falling debris from a meteor shower, said Hildebrand. "I haven't spoken to any witnesses myself yet," he said. "I'm not even sure exactly where it was." Hildebrand said that Canadian Fireball Reporting Centre receives about 70 reports of sightings each year.

On Nov. 20, a bright flash lit up the sky, visible from Alberta to Manitoba. So far, researchers have found more than 100 pieces of that meteorite, strewn over a 21-square-kilometre area of Saskatchewan just east of the Alberta border. Scientists were able to narrow down an impact zone because the trajectory of the fireball was caught on multiple security cameras. Hildebrand has estimated that over 10,000 pieces may have fallen to the ground that night.>>

<<Quadrans Muralis (Latin for mural quadrant) was a constellation created by Jérôme Lalande in 1795. It was located between the constellations of Boötes and Ursa Major. It is no longer in use, but the Quadrantid meteor shower is named after it.>>

<<Evidently, Messier 102 (M102) is the last possibly "missing", or doubty, Messier object. This means that, based on the observation record of his friend, Pierre Méchain, Charles Messier included this object in his catalog without verifying before publication, and it happens that Méchain's published position is erroneous. The authors of this page think that there is sufficient evidence that both Méchain and Messier have probably observed NGC 5866 in context of this catalog entry. Therefore, it should be considered to take this last missing object back into the catalog.>>
http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/m102.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap060612.html
http://www.maa.clell.de/Messier/E/ngc5866.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NGC_5866

LISKY wrote:I was driving home from upstate NY on Sunday evening Jan 04 2009. I crossed the Tappanzee bridge, heading south about 7:00 PM. My wife was looking southish and saw an EXTREMELY bright fireball that rivaled Venus. It was visible for 3 or 4 seconds then it broke into several pieces. Did anyone else see this fireball. She said this was the brightest meteor she had ever seen. Unfortunately I was driving and saw nothing.

I haven't heard anything. But fireballs in the mag -4 range are common, happening over any one spot several times a week.

I can't find the articles I read on it, but there was a bright fireball within the last week or two, which was roughly over NY. It was bright enough to be seen as far south as MD and north into New England. Since I can't find the articles I can't confirm the date. Possibly part of the Quadrantid meteor shower which peaked on the 3rd?

Edit: I found one of the reports. Scroll down on this page half-way: http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php ... &view=view

It look like Canada is receiving and unusual amount of meteor recently. If it happen there then it must be the same around the world (Unles it all cam from same direction) . Just look up more often and you might see one. I hope it's not a bad sign coming toward us.

http://visz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_re ... 9&lang=eng

Goto the event description.

Doum wrote:It look like Canada is receiving and unusual amount of meteor recently. If it happen there then it must be the same around the world (Unles it all cam from same direction) . Just look up more often and you might see one. I hope it's not a bad sign coming toward us.

http://visz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/woalert_re ... 9&lang=eng

If the Quadrantid meteor shower is the origin of these meteors they won't be landing in Antarctica.

<<Quadrans Muralis was a constellation located between the constellations of Boötes and Ursa Major.
It is no longer in use, but the Quadrantid meteor shower is named after it.>>

Just be glad they are Quadrantids and not TRIFFIDS

Narrator: [narrating voice over] All reports confirm that the world is witnessing an unprecedented shower of meteorites. There is no record of a display such as this in recorded history. At observatories astronomers are noting this fantastic phenomenon, and are carefully calculating the effect on our solar system. The consensus of option is that the meteorites burn up from the intense heat before they reach the Earth.

Tom Goodwin: [to Karen] Keep behind me. There's no sense in getting killed by a plant.

Quote
"Hildebrand has also said speed and trajectory suggest the latest sighting is unlikely to be part of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower that rains down upon Western Canada at the beginning of every January."

So it seem not to be coming from the Quadrantid meteor.

As for the triffid.

Doum wrote:

"Hildebrand has also said speed and trajectory suggest the latest sighting is unlikely to be part of the annual Quadrantid meteor shower that rains down upon Western Canada at the beginning of every January."

So it seem not to be coming from the Quadrantid meteor.

As for the triffid.

Keep behind me, Doum. There's no sense in getting killed by a plant.

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap080630.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap040618.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070813.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap050526.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070707.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071102.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070804.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030628.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap011229.html

Was refering to the picture of the beast you post.

hi!! i just wanted to let you know, i thought i was crazy, but i visited my boyfriend in Brooklyn and i stepped out and when i was comming back i saw a fire in the sky and then slowly went down and desintegrated, in the beggining i thought it was some kind of fire work, but then i realized it wasn't and i looked around to see if soembody else saw it and since then i've been looking for people who saw it just to confirm i wasn't the only one.

LISKY wrote:I was driving home from upstate NY on Sunday evening Jan 04 2009. I crossed the Tappanzee bridge, heading south about 7:00 PM. My wife was looking southish and saw an EXTREMELY bright fireball that rivaled Venus. It was visible for 3 or 4 seconds then it broke into several pieces. Did anyone else see this fireball. She said this was the brightest meteor she had ever seen. Unfortunately I was driving and saw nothing.

lolacc1979 wrote:hi!! i just wanted to let you know, i thought i was crazy, but i visited my boyfriend in Brooklyn and i stepped out and when i was comming back i saw a fire in the sky and then slowly went down and desintegrated, in the beggining i thought it was some kind of fire work, but then i realized it wasn't and i looked around to see if soembody else saw it and since then i've been looking for people who saw it just to confirm i wasn't the only one.

What date? What time? What direction? From where?

Any history of mental illness or alien abduction? (joke)