Gallery Leonids 2001


On this page we show a number of nice images from our Leonid 2001 observing campaign in Australia. If you use any of these images, please give credit to the European Space Agency: "(c) 2001, European Space Agency".
 
 

Results
klick to enlarge One of the first Leonid meteors recorded in the night of the maximum, 2001 Nov 18, at 17h20m32s UT. It passes right through the constellation of Orion. Camera LCC2, field of view approximately 50 deg. Image taken by André Knöfel.
klick to enlarge Magnitude curve for the above meteor as determined by the automatic detection software MetRec.
klick to enlarge A meteor spectrum. The meteor moved approximately from left to right. The almost horizontal lines are emission lines from the meteor. Note that more and more lines become visible the further the meteor moves. The bright point in up right from the center is a star. Image recorded by André Knöfel, 2001 Nov 18, 18h15m05s, with the camera ICC4, field of view 15 deg, Zeiss objective grating, 300 lpm.The exact position of the lines allows to assess the chemical composition of the meteoroid.

The instruments
klick to enlarge André Knöfel showing the objective grating. It will be mounted on the intensified video camera visible in the background. The top camera records the so-called zero order image (i.e. the normal image of the meteor). The grating is mounted on the lower camera. The light of the meteor is deflected into the spectrum. To see the same meteor, the camera has to pointed at an angle with respect to the other one. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
klick to enlarge The E-Field sensor. An electrode on top of the mast measures the vertical electric field in the atmosphere. The prediction was that the ion channel generated by a meteor allows charge to flow, thus the electric field between the ionosphere and the ground would change. This field change should be measurable by this sensor.
klick to enlarge The portable power supply developed by Roland.

The people
klick to enlarge André Knöfel and Roland Trautner preparing the spectrograph camera at nightfall. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
click to enlarge Roland Trautner checking the sky. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
klick to enlarge Roland Trautner operating his experiment. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
klick to enlarge The team: from left to right Joe Zender, Detlef Koschny, André Knöfel, Roland Trautner. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
André and Roland operating the equipment. Photograph by Grant Hobson.

The landscape
The Edgar Ranges in the distance, seen from our observing location at Dampier Downs. Photograph by Grant Hobson.
The IR image on the evening of the 18 Nov 2001. Our location is marked with a little circle - we were just in the right position!

To "Meteor observations at ESA/SSD"

This page prepared by Detlef Koschny on 19 Mar 2002.