Random Meteor

It is quite rare to capture a meteor in a telescope field, especially a field as small as this one (about 17 arc minutes wide) and especially one which seems to have centered its glowing life almost perfectly in the frame. This shot is, I believe, very unusual and I do not expect to capture another like it. I thought at first that the light trail might have been a satellite but it clearly begins and ends within the frame. The only other possibility is that a high flying aircraft was blinking a light on and off and happened to have it on during the time that it was centered in my frame. I have discounted this idea primarily because aircraft almost universally display at least two lights and the image reveals only one. The meteor must have been very small because it burned up almost immediately. The object I was photographing is M27.

Taken May 24, 2007, with the 402 camera and the Meade F:3.5 focal reducer. 5 minutes exposure.