"Orion / Leonid Bolide Detail"

South Park, Colorado November 18, 2001
Fujicolor Professional Press P- 800
ISO 800 color negative film -- pushed 1 stop
Pentax Spotmatic camera with 28 mm lens at f/3.5 / 2 minute exposure

 

This bright bolide fireball streaked through Orion sometime after the Zenith Hourly Rate (ZHR) reached a maximum of almost 3000, and lasted from 03:10 A.M. MST to 03:30 A.M. MST on November 18, 2001. The round object in the direct foreground is the telescope tube (the camera was riding piggyback and being driven by the telescope's clock drive to compensate for the Earth's rotation). Note the dust cloud already being ejected from the combustion of the meteorite in our atmosphere. The detail along the "head" of the meteor is fascinating as well..

The Leonid meteor shower astrophotography is available via telephone ordering as noted below.