[meteorite-list] Aussie Photographs Meteor Through Telescope:NOT

[Chris Peterson]

To clear things up, following some off-list discussions as well as 
information provided on the Ice in Space forum, this is not an image of a 
meteor. It is, in fact, an image of the star beta Octans, very near the 
south celestial pole. The surrounding stars are readily identifiable using a 
star chart or planetarium program. The image was made by tracking on the 
star for part of the exposure, and then slewing away from it. Other star 
trails are not seen because the other stars are more than 100 times dimmer 
than beta Octans.

Beta Octans is located 60° from the imager's target, NGC253. It is certainly 
difficult to explain how he could have made this error, since he explicitly 
says that he made 10-minute images of NGC253 both immediately before and 
after this supposedly aborted 9-second image. A 60° slew away from and back 
to a target is pretty hard to overlook...

Chris

*****************************************
Chris L Peterson
Cloudbait Observatory
http://www.cloudbait.com


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jason Utas" <meteoritekid at gmail.com>
To: "Meteorite-list" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 29, 2009 2:28 PM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Aussie Photographs Meteor Through 
Telescope:NOT


Hola All,
It's a nine-second exposure - why not a satellite?  I don't know if a
long-term exposure of a satellite would result in a "wiggly" line, but
if it is as Elton says, possibly the result of the photographic
equipment used - well, any thoughts?
Regards,
Jason