APOD: Mojave Desert Fireball (2009 Dec 17)

[APOD Robot]

Mojave Desert Fireball

Explanation: Monstrously bright, this fireball meteor lit up the Mojave Desert sky Monday morning, part of this year's impressive Geminid meteor shower. Seen toward the southwest over rock formations near Victorville, California, a more familiar celestial background was momentarily washed out by the meteor's flash. The background includes bright star Sirius at the left, and Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster at the right side of the image. The meteor itself blazes through the constellation Orion. Its greenish trail begins just left of a yellow-tinted Betelgeuse and points back to the shower's radiant in Gemini, just off the top of the frame. A rewarding catch for photographer Wally Pacholka, the spectacular image is one of over 1500 frames that he reports captured 48, mostly faint, Geminid meteors.

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[geckzilla]

Congrats, Wally, even after 1500 frames you're still damn lucky to catch this one, right?

[bystander]

Agreed! With all the planning, time, and effort that goes into Wally's portraiture of the night skies, this one comes down to a lucky catch. Still, I can't help but wonder what Wally's detractors will find wrong with this one. Nice shot, Wally! As much as I admire your work, this might be one of your best.

[Czerno]

A fantastic shot !

Anyone can estimate the or mass of the grain of matter that produced such a blazing ray ?

[BMAONE23]

Looks like the Sword of Damocles is about to slice Orion through his wee dirk

[neufer]

Looks like the Sword of Damocles is about to slice Orion through his wee dirk

I didn't know that Orion was Jewish.

(Based upon the name I thought he was Irish Catholic.)

[PColaDave]

Is that starfield rotated about 90 degrees or am I?

[rr_carroll]

"Pleiades" is misspelled.

[capricorn]

Ahem ---
"A wee dirk" is a small knife commonly kept down the side of the leg inside the sock of a Scottish Highlander wearing a kilt.
So the word is Celtic
Capricorn

[neufer]

Agreed! With all the planning, time, and effort that goes into Wally's portraiture of the night skies, this one comes down to a lucky catch. Still, I can't help but wonder what Wally's detractors will find wrong with this one. Nice shot, Wally! As much as I admire your work, this might be one of your best.

OK... the problem isn't that Wally's pictures aren't beautiful & perfect;
the problem is precisely that Wally's pictures are TOO beautiful & perfect.

The fun part of most APOD pictures IMO is that
the harder you contemplate them the more you learn.

Contemplating Wally's "pictures" very hard simply gives one a headache.

I don't doubt for a minute that Wally went out personally the other night & took 1500 frames
which he then sent to some professional photoshop outfit to produce a beautiful montage.

However, by the time that montage comes back from the professional
photoshop outfit who knows what the hell one is seeing.

I'll take a scientific Chris Peterson montage of the Geminids
over Wally's artistic montage of a Geminid fireball any day of the week

[BMAONE23]

I like Wally's pictures myself.

This one could also serve to define "Light Saber"

[geckzilla]

I always figured Wally did his own Photoshopping. It seems an odd thought to me that part of his artistic process would involve outsourcing part of his skill. But I also thought that most of the exposures weren't actually photoshopped at all other than the usual levels/cropping/resizing/etc type stuff. Most of them look like camera / lighting tricks to me, not Photoshop tinkering. As for the aesthetics, some of his pics do it for me while others do not, really just a matter of personal taste on that. He does seem to be best buds with either Jerry B or RJN, though. "Hey guys, I got another APOD for you!"

[neufer]

I like Wally's pictures myself.

This one could also serve to define "Light Saber"

Well, I enjoy Wally's pictures TOO;
just as I enjoy Judy Ross's "Astronomy Quilts."
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051016.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041125.html

But when Judy Ross's "Astronomy Quilts" show up in APODs
they don't need a disclaimer that this is primarily a piece of Art.

Wally's APOD should ALWAYS come with a disclaimer
that this is primarily a piece of Art so that
no one will come back with pointless questions like this:

Is that starfield rotated about 90 degrees or am I?

[geckzilla]

Hah, now I want to know if he really rotated the sky.

Edit: Best I can tell, he did not. Went to his website to get the time and day, plopped myself at approximately the center of the Mojave desert, and took a screenshot. Looks right to me. I would have been surprised if it wasn't, actually, since it would be fairly challenging to do it without things getting wonky.

http://www.geckzilla.com/apod/stellarium-000.png

[neufer]

Hah, now I want to know if he really rotated the sky.

Edit: Best I can tell, he did not. Went to his website to get the time and day, plopped myself at approximately the center of the Mojave desert, and took a screenshot. Looks right to me. I would have been surprised if it wasn't, actually, since it would be fairly challenging to do it without things getting wonky.

http://www.geckzilla.com/apod/stellarium-000.png

Generally, Wally's pictures are quite "wonky" (IMO).

I'll buy into Wally's pretty picture of Orion behind the mountains
(almost anyone could have done that).

And I'll even buy into Wally's pretty picture of a brilliant fireball that night.

My main problem is with the artistic positioning of the fireball stopping so nicely within the ridge cleft
and being perfectly parallel with the Betelgeuse-Rigel line (; not to mention balanced lighting everywhere).
That's not luck...that's pure artistic license IMO.

[geckzilla]

You think he took the shot of the fireball and then put it on top of another picture? Hmmm, well that's a lot easier to do, especially if the meteor streaked across a blank area of the sky and the flare didn't end up over the mountain... but I think it's possible that this is shot as is. It's entirely possible. And as for the composition, it very well could have been way over on the left side of his original photo and he cropped off half the right side to balance it out. I suppose we can't know unless someone asks him.

Edit: By the way, I just asked him.

[BMAONE23]

today's APOD (12-18-2009) has another geminid passing through Orion at about the same place and angle so I think it was an artistic chance hit at the location of the streak.

[neufer]

today's APOD (12-18-2009) has another geminid passing through Orion at about the same place and angle so I think it was an artistic chance hit at the location of the streak.

I noticed that although the radial pattern would suggest that the line isn't as parallel with the Betelgeuse/Rigel line as Wally's.

However, even if the fireball was taken in conjunction with the background stars that doesn't mean that the background and foreground shots were taken together. I simply don't believe that a professional astrophotographer like Wally can depend entirely on luck (nor, probably, should he).

[PColaDave]

I like Wally's pictures myself.

This one could also serve to define "Light Saber"

Well, I enjoy Wally's pictures TOO;
just as I enjoy Judy Ross's "Astronomy Quilts."
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051016.html
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041125.html

But when Judy Ross's "Astronomy Quilts" show up in APODs
they don't need a disclaimer that this is primarily a piece of Art.

Wally's APOD should ALWAYS come with a disclaimer
that this is primarily a piece of Art so that
no one will come back with pointless questions like this:

Is that starfield rotated about 90 degrees or am I?

My apologies if my question upset some APOD fans. Being a more casual observer, I just noticed the difference between this shot and the one from 2009 December 12. The meteor and star field line up fine. The whole thing just seems to have been rotated to fit with the foreground. Beautiful artwork and I have no problem with the changes, if any, that were made. Now that I know that the work from this individual is an artistic interpretation I can enjoy it without my head getting in the way. Thanks.

[stardotfan]

I may possibly be misinterpreting some of the above posts, but I'm throwing in my pennies anyway-

I witnessed this event from another location over 40 miles away from Wally. The photo timestamp on Wally's camera had the exact same time as I saw it, I doubt any manipulation of the location/direction/starfield/meteor took place whatsoever- the event was also simultaneously recorded (and confirmed) by the GMARS sentinel station operated by the local astronomy organization (RAS).

Being in the right place at the right time is not all about luck- it's grueling hours, dedication and hard work that offer opportunities such as this to anyone so inclined. Way to go Wally- it's an incredible "Wonder"!

[waynepowellphoto.com]

I am a big fan of Wally's work, and was under the impression that this was simply a photograph, not manipulated. Thus the reason for his taking 1,500 images that night.
However, I certainly don't know. I will say it is the most incredible meteor photograph I've seen.

His night series from Hawaii should not be missed, treat yourself if you haven't seen them!

A fellow Mojave Desert Night Photographer,
wayne powell
http://www.waynepowellphoto.com

p.s. my Mojave night images are all on film, taken with 1971 Minolta SRT 101

[mickeyy]

Mojave Desert Fireball

Explanation: Monstrously bright, this fireball meteor lit up the Mojave Desert sky Monday morning, part of this year's impressive Geminid meteor shower. Seen toward the southwest over rock formations near Victorville, California, a more familiar celestial background was momentarily washed out by the meteor's flash. The background includes bright star Sirius at the left, and Aldebaran and the Pleiades star cluster at the right side of the image. The meteor itself blazes through the constellation Orion. Its greenish trail begins just left of a yellow-tinted Betelgeuse and points back to the shower's radiant in Gemini, just off the top of the frame. A rewarding catch for photographer Wally Pacholka, the spectacular image is one of over 1500 frames that he reports captured 48, mostly faint, Geminid meteors.

<< Previous APOD

Next APOD >>

That is an incredible piece of photography/luck. I have not seen any fireballs, but I do notice many twinkling stars that look miscombobulated in the night sky, looks beautiful and weird at the same time..

[vero216]

Thats awesome.It looks like you are near to future...

[Beyond]

I was contemplating how to write that this picture is actually a cover for a secret goverment test-firing of a "light' gun, When i looked to the right and discovered what i call "The Scoop". Kinda like a really mini Big Dipper. I've seen it in the night sky for many years but have never heard anyone mention anything about it. I wonder why??