"Orion / Leonid Bolide Dust"

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

 

A 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 meteor left a dust cloud that lasted at least 4 minutes. This photograph shows the dust cloud up to 2 minutes after the bolide exploded below Orion in the southwestern sky just before dawn. 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) and the lights in the background are from the small hamlet of Jefferson, CO, some 10 miles away.

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