[meteorite-list] Oh Christ... any ideas anyone?

[E.P. Grondine]

Hi Chris - 

Thanks. The image apparently is a weather satellite
photo. I have no idea when or what satellite.

It didn't look to me like ink from a printer. You're
right - if there was any exposure time, then it seems
that an asteroid would be blurred due to its motion.

My guess is that the image was processed from some
kind of infra-red sensor, to show the clouds. Maybe
film, then scanned? 

Beyond that, does anyone here know about the early
weather satellites?

E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas

Chris wrote:
Not a chance. I don't know what technology was used
for the Earth image in the first place, but it doesn't
look recent. In fact, the image as published looks
like a secondary photograph off a paper original. If
that inkblot were an asteroid, what is it being seen
against? What imaging technology sees space as white?
Most likely, the output system simply avoids printing
or coloring areas outside the Earth. That makes the
spot either a printing defect, or something that got
on the image 
before the secondary copy was made (or a deliberate
fraud, considering the source).

Also, an asteroid close enough to appear this large
would be both unfocused and motion blurred as recorded
by any Earth monitoring satellite.

Chris


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