Mysterious Streaks Over Turkey
Explanation:
What are they?
Five streaks near the bottom of the above image taken near
Ankara,
Turkey
on Sunday would be identified at first glance as meteors from the
Perseids meteor shower peaking just that night.
Unexpectedly, however, these streaks do not point back to the Perseids
radiant in
Perseus.
Their origin is therefore somewhat unclear.
The above image was captured over the time span of 40 minutes.
Other visible celestial icons include the constellation
Orion and the
Pleiades star cluster.
One hypothesis is that the
streaks are part of a microburst from a
much less active meteor shower known as the
Alpha Ursae Majorids.
Another possibility is that they are parts of a
satellite
that broke up as it
re-entered the Earth's atmosphere.
A discussion of these possibilities can be found
here.
This year's
Perseids meteor shower
was a good one, as it was particularly active and
corresponded with the dark skies that come with a
new moon.
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
