Page 1 of 1
APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 4:07 am
by APOD Robot
Meteor before Galaxy
Explanation: What's that green streak in front of the Andromeda galaxy? A meteor. While photographing the
Andromeda galaxy in 2016, near the peak of the
Perseid Meteor Shower, a small pebble from deep space
crossed right in front of our
Milky Way Galaxy's far-distant companion. The small
meteor took only a fraction of a second to pass through this 10-degree field. The
meteor flared several times while braking violently upon entering
Earth's atmosphere. The
green color was created, at least in part, by the meteor's gas glowing as it vaporized. Although
the exposure was timed to catch a
Perseid meteor, the orientation of the imaged streak seems a better match to a meteor from the
Southern Delta Aquariids, a
meteor shower that peaked a few weeks earlier. Not coincidentally, the
Perseid Meteor Shower peaks later this week, although
this year the meteors will have to outshine a
sky brightened by a nearly full moon.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 am
by Astronymus
The flares look like a pattern. Probably due to rotation, I guess.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:43 am
by daddyo
Missed the core by “that much”
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:54 am
by XgeoX
Just a stunning image…
Space cat approves!
Eric
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 12:47 pm
by orin stepanek
Jedi laser powers past Andromeda!
![Mr. Green :mrgreen:](./images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif)
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:46 pm
by Chris Peterson
Astronymus wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 am
The flares look like a pattern. Probably due to rotation, I guess.
More likely related to the fluffy, inhomogeneous nature of the parent body.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:04 pm
by johnnydeep
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:46 pm
Astronymus wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 am
The flares look like a pattern. Probably due to rotation, I guess.
More likely related to the fluffy, inhomogeneous nature of the parent body.
Maybe both? I think the pattern Astronymus is referring to is the pretty regular spacing of the flares (ignoring how bright they are and the interruption over the body of Andromeda):
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:43 pm
by Chris Peterson
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:04 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:46 pm
Astronymus wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 7:17 am
The flares look like a pattern. Probably due to rotation, I guess.
More likely related to the fluffy, inhomogeneous nature of the parent body.
Maybe both? I think the pattern Astronymus is referring to is the pretty regular spacing of the flares (ignoring how bright they are and the interruption over the body of Andromeda):
meteor flare intervals.JPG
Maybe, but I'm more inclined to think rotation isn't involved. A tiny particle like this would probably align in a fixed orientation even before the air got dense enough for it to start ablating. The flare distance would suggest a rotation rate of about 10/s, which is awfully fast.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 am
by VictorBorun
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:43 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:04 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 1:46 pm
More likely related to the fluffy, inhomogeneous nature of the parent body.
Maybe both? I think the pattern Astronymus is referring to is the pretty regular spacing of the flares (ignoring how bright they are and the interruption over the body of Andromeda):
meteor flare intervals.JPG
Maybe, but I'm more inclined to think rotation isn't involved. A tiny particle like this would probably align in a fixed orientation even before the air got dense enough for it to start ablating. The flare distance would suggest a rotation rate of about 10/s, which is awfully fast.
what if that
tiny particle was stereo asymmetric and got spinned up by the headwind?
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:28 am
by Chris Peterson
VictorBorun wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 am
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:43 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:04 pm
Maybe both? I think the pattern Astronymus is referring to is the pretty regular spacing of the flares (ignoring how bright they are and the interruption over the body of Andromeda):
meteor flare intervals.JPG
Maybe, but I'm more inclined to think rotation isn't involved. A tiny particle like this would probably align in a fixed orientation even before the air got dense enough for it to start ablating. The flare distance would suggest a rotation rate of about 10/s, which is awfully fast.
what if that
tiny particle was stereo asymmetric and got spinned up by the headwind?
Anything is possible. I think it is unlikely. I think the apparent repetition of the flaring is probably just coincidence and our tendency to see patterns even when there aren't any.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:35 pm
by johnnydeep
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:28 am
VictorBorun wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 am
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Sun Aug 07, 2022 3:43 pm
Maybe, but I'm more inclined to think rotation isn't involved. A tiny particle like this would probably align in a fixed orientation even before the air got dense enough for it to start ablating. The flare distance would suggest a rotation rate of about 10/s, which is awfully fast.
what if that
tiny particle was stereo asymmetric and got spinned up by the headwind?
Anything is possible. I think it is unlikely. I think the apparent repetition of the flaring is probably just coincidence and
our tendency to see patterns even when there aren't any.
Yeah, we humans sure do tend to do that. But fortunately, such an ability (or gift) also comes in very handy for discovering new science!
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:36 pm
by Chris Peterson
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:35 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:28 am
VictorBorun wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:21 am
what if that
tiny particle was stereo asymmetric and got spinned up by the headwind?
Anything is possible. I think it is unlikely. I think the apparent repetition of the flaring is probably just coincidence and
our tendency to see patterns even when there aren't any.
Yeah, we humans sure do tend to do that. But fortunately, such an ability (or gift) also comes in very handy for discovering new science!
Yes... as long as we recognize the bias is there and don't let it take over. (True of all the biases that are wired into us!)
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:42 pm
by johnnydeep
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:36 pm
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 1:35 pm
Chris Peterson wrote: ↑Mon Aug 08, 2022 4:28 am
Anything is possible. I think it is unlikely. I think the apparent repetition of the flaring is probably just coincidence and
our tendency to see patterns even when there aren't any.
Yeah, we humans sure do tend to do that. But fortunately, such an ability (or gift) also comes in very handy for discovering new science!
Yes... as long as we recognize the bias is there and don't let it take over. (True of all the biases that are wired into us!)
And sadly, our History (and our present), is rife with stories of people who lack the ability to distinguish between the real and imagined patterns/"connections" they see and end up promulgating pseudoscience or worse.
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:43 am
by Astronymus
Hey, hey. Calm down. It was a suggestion, not a new theory. One would have to analyse many pictures to determine if it "could" be a pattern or just a coincidence. And as micrometeorites do... did rotate, that's known due their melting pattern, I wondered...
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:12 pm
by johnnydeep
Astronymus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:43 am
Hey, hey. Calm down. It was a suggestion, not a new theory. One would have to analyse many pictures to determine if it "could" be a pattern or just a coincidence. And as micrometeorites do... did rotate, that's known due their melting pattern, I wondered...
No worries. Hope you didn't take my remarks to be casting aspersions in your direction. That was not my intent. We're all friends here!
Re: APOD: Meteor before Galaxy (2022 Aug 07)
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:07 am
by Astronymus
johnnydeep wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 12:12 pm
Astronymus wrote: ↑Sat Aug 13, 2022 6:43 am
Hey, hey. Calm down. It was a suggestion, not a new theory. One would have to analyse many pictures to determine if it "could" be a pattern or just a coincidence. And as micrometeorites do... did rotate, that's known due their melting pattern, I wondered...
No worries. Hope you didn't take my remarks to be casting aspersions in your direction. That was not my intent. We're all friends here!
I didn't, you are safe.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
I just feared you others might begin to tear each other into pieces for this spontaneous idea of mine. I'm not here very often.
![Wink :wink:](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)