NASA-LMT: Video Images of a Meteor Event

      

Time series of white light video images acquired with the NASA-LMT using the 40mm 2^nd generation Micro-Channel Plate

(MCP) intensified digital video camera. The field of view is 0.444 degrees in diameter. The interval between the first and

seconds frames is 0.033 seconds. The interval between the second and third frames is tens times longer at 0.333 seconds.

This is a meteor event clearly distinguished by the high angular velocity of the object and the residual plasma contrail. Meteor

events must be separated from orbital object events to yield an accurate appraisal of the orbital population. Bright meteor

events are easily distinguished by their residual contrail. Fainter meteors are identified by their appearance below the

allowable earth shadow height, or at angular rate implying unbound orbits or altitudes well within the earth’s atmosphere

(~<200 km). Slower meteors which cannot be distinguished from faster orbital objects remain as a contaminant to the orbital

object data set. The limiting apparent magnitude with this detector is approximately 16.5.