Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

A Strange Streak Imaged in Australia

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the but-what-does-it-mean dept.

Koyaanisqatsi writes "Today's Astronomy Picture of the Day presents a challenge worthy of a large audience: as it says, "Meteor experts don't think it's a meteor. Atmospheric scientists don't think it's lightning". An intriguing dark streak and bright flash that defies explanation showed up on some cloud monitoring pictures. The forumsetup to discuss it is currently hosed, so perhaps fellow slashdotters can shed some light over the mystery?"

32 of 825 comments (clear)

  1. It's old news... by CodeWanker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    but when this pic surfaced the first time, people speculated that the flat trajectory meant it had to be a tiny meteorite, with the flash resulting from the rock hitting a street light. a 1 in a billion photo, I imagine.

    --


    "Wow. Now THAT'S a lot of angry Indians." - Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer
  2. Um, flaw in the film? by portforward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It had to have been something in the development process. IANAFD (I am not a film developer) Could the film have been somehow kinked? I can't buy the fact that it is a freak astronomical event, even though it must have peaked enough people's interests to make it to NASA's picture of the day.

    1. Re:Um, flaw in the film? by pslam · · Score: 5, Interesting
      My guess is a very bright event (the failure of the streetlight, probably) causing CCD overexposure and subsequent temporary ill effects on the rest of the CCD scan line. Any Canon geeks in the house who know about the CCD scanning direction of a Powershot G3 and can compare it with the streak "trajectory" angle?

      I've had all sorts of annoying artifacts like this on my image capture setup at home, but generally overloading the CCD produces horizontal and vertical streaks only, which would follow the layout of the CCD (rows and columns?) The image could still be explained by either:

      • The CCD being deliberately mounted at an angle in the G3 (perhaps to reduce aliasing effects).
      • The bright spot caused lens flaring towards the top level just before the shot, with nearby pixels being dimmed in the image taken very shortly after.

      My theory is the bright flash is actually sunlight reflected off the lamp and either overloading the CCD or causing a lens flare just before the image, resulting in this artifact. I get that a lot with cars going by my camera setup at home, especially at sunrise and sunset. The only difference I get is that they're all perfectly horizontal and/or vertical.

    2. Re:Um, flaw in the film? by phloydde1 · · Score: 1, Interesting

      I agree.. If you look close up at the light, the smoke and the majority of the flash looks like it's coming from UNDERNEATH, from the direction of where the light would be downwards.. It looks to me like the huge bulb in this sucker exploded causing an overload in the CCD, and thus causing the artifact..

      what's more interesting to me is the pink spot near the lower left that stays in a consistant spot in all 3 frames. (Look at the white building, the scan downwards. It's in the middle of the water.)

  3. Source of the line by Lev13than · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I'd say round paintbrush, 20 pixels, black with 10% opacity.
    Either that or he needs to clean his camera lens.

    --
    When you have nothing left to burn you must set yourself on fire
  4. Ironic username for submitting this story by suso · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Koyaanisqatsi was the title of the 1983 film which has the prophecy:

    "If we dig precious things from the land, we will invite disaster. Near the Day of Purification, there will be cobwebs spun back and forth in the sky. A container of ashes might one day be thrown from the sky, which could burn the land and boil the oceans."

  5. That streak is awful straight by Lonesome+Squash · · Score: 4, Interesting

    for any sort of natural phenomenon. It suggests a photographic artifact of some sort. Is the flash definitely related? It certainly appears to be coming from the end of what the APoD caption identifies as a light pole, which is not working. Could it have failed with a sudden flash? Could it coincidentally have occurred at the same time as the streak artifact?

    --
    Behold the riant ape! Beware, his crooked thumbs!
    1. Re:That streak is awful straight by daniil · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The streak could be a contrail shadow.

      --
      Man is a slave because freedom is difficult, whereas slavery is easy.
  6. What a clear photo! by Hatechall · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I don't understand is how the "flash" at the end of the streak is so clean of an image. Even with crazy f/stop settings and an ISO equiv of 400 - I would imagine a picture in that light would have to have a shutter speed of at most 1/30th of a second, more than enough time to cause blur even to a slowly moving object. Am I off base here?

    1. Re:What a clear photo! by mr_z_beeblebrox · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Am I off base here?

      Possibly but not far off base. The picture was taken by a photographer with a telephoto lense. He was taking pictures of a large area where movement is occurring. I doubt that he would be using a shutter speed as slow as 1/30. I would not take pictures at that distance with less than 1/250 as it would reveal photographer tremors (though he could be using a tripod, but then he would go for 1 /125)

  7. Let's see Watson... by ceeam · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From the article:

    Images taken just before and after the above frame show no streak or flash. The light pole near the flash has been inspected and does not show any damage, although the light inside was not working.

    Can we reasonably say that it was just a light bulb blowing off? Streak? Boy, for sure when I get a bright lamp in the frame I have all kinds of streaks going off it on the picture. So - I'd say it's either an optical or digicam artifact caused by the flash.

  8. My solution by troon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    OK, here's my solution. The light levels are fairly low: the EXIF data from the big image reveals that the Powershot G3 used 1/20s exposure at f/5.6.

    I reckon the streak and the blur are very, very close to the camera, and that the intersection with the streetlamp is conincidence.

    I believe that the mystery object is an insect flying "north-west" (i.e. towards the top left of the camera). The EXIF data tells us that the flash was fired, although goodness knows why any decent photographer would use a flash for that shot.

    The flash on most cameras fires at the beginning of the exposure time, and the insect is captured in flight and out of focus near the middle of the frame. It then continues flying for the rest of the 1/20s exposure causing the black streak.

    Where do I go to collect my prize?

    --
    Ydco co ,df C erb-y go. a Ekrpat t.fxrapev
    1. Re:My solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Lets make some assumptions about your answer.

      Based on the size of the abberation, the bug would have to be fairly small. We'll say no bigger than a housefly.
      Houseflys move at about 4.4mph.
      If it was moving at top speed, that's 10 cm (3.9 inches) that it flew in 1/20 sec.
      My question is, using trig and the size of lightposts in Australia, how far away from the camera is your bug and does the size of the flash jive with the size of the bug at that distance?

      Also, why is the white pattern around the lightpost symmetrical about the axis of the dark streak? Wouldn't a bug flying sideways in the picture be asymmetrical in relation to its flight path?

      I think it's something to do with the reflection of the sun off of an off-frame airborne object.

    2. Re:My solution by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting


      You guys have such wonderful imaginations. The fellow who described it as a photographic artifact is as close as any of you get.

      Note that a line inscribed from the sun to the flash at the postition of the light pole is at right angles too the black streak.

      This is whats commonly known as a ''sun dog'', or lens flare, though it is produced in this case from the reflection rather than the sun itself.

      I reached this conclusion after using photoshop CS with the Genuine Fractals scaling plugin on a G4 powermac to enlarge the picture over 500%. Though there was some lossiness as the reflection area was blown up nearly to screen size, it is clearly a reflection off of the light fixture at the top of the pole.

      Gimme back my prize :P

      mail me: twitch at mw dot merseine dot freakin' nu

  9. Timestamps on the images by suso · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Actually, here is something revealing, it seems that his before and after images are reversed:

    $ strings strangebefore_pryde_big.jpg | head
    uExif
    Canon
    Canon PowerShot G3
    ACD Systems Digital Imaging
    2004:11:25 15:23:11
    0220
    0100
    2004:11:22 18:53:07
    2004:11:22 18:53:07
    IMG:PowerShot G3 JPEG
    $ strings strange_pryde_big.jpg | head
    uExif
    Canon
    Canon PowerShot G3
    ACD Systems Digital Imaging
    2004:11:25 15:20:49
    0220
    0100
    2004:11:22 18:52:52
    2004:11:22 18:52:52
    IMG:PowerShot G3 JPEG
    $ strings strangeafter_pryde_big.jpg | head
    uExif
    Canon
    Canon PowerShot G3
    ACD Systems Digital Imaging
    2004:11:25 15:22:47
    0220
    0100
    2004:11:22 18:52:37
    2004:11:22 18:52:37
    IMG:PowerShot G3 JPEG
    $

  10. Lots of Meteorites hit Australia yesterday by Shanes · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Se here for some reports.

  11. that does explain it by Savet+Hegar · · Score: 2, Interesting

    If it was reflecting right back at the camera, it could certainly result in that line.

    It wouldn't reflect directly back, but at a slight angle. The light hitting the lense at an angle would make one side long. In this case....very long.

    --
    Mod points are pointless when you browse at -1.
  12. My Questions by ErroneousBee · · Score: 3, Interesting

    1. Is the trajectory staight, or does it drop slightly. Putting a ruler up against my screen indicates it drops slightly, but that doesnt mean anything.

    2. Is it a flash, or is it a steady bright light (like what a meteor head would be). Need to know the exposure time for that info.

    3. Is there any sign of the trail in the after photo.

    4. How long is it before the after photo was taken?

    5. It the flash infront of, behind, or exactly congruent with the pole top.

    6. Is the trail wider at the top than the bottom. If it is, is this dispersion of smoke or paralax and the object was moving away.

    7. Is the image film or digital.

    8. What is the white stuff? Shock front? Something disintegrating? Why is it that funny shape?

    9. Was the light working previously? When was it last known to be working? There may be pictures of it from the night before.

    Well, thats my questions. I think its a meteor.

    --
    **TODO** Steal someone elses sig.
  13. Object hitting the water? by diakka · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I didn't notice this until I looked at the before and after pictures in sequence with the main picture. But it appears that the streak may be the trail of some object hitting the water. If you look where the streak meets the water, there seems to be something bright where the streak meets the water that is not in either of the other 2 images.

    --
    -- Knowledge shared is power lost. -- Aleister Crowley
  14. Re:Ball Lightning? by OwlWhacker · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Here's an interesting experiment, that you can do in your own home, to create 'ball lightning':

    jlnlabs.online.fr/plasma/4wres/

    --
    Linux/Open Source/Anti Microsoft News
  15. Re:It looks like... by LnxAddct · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I am in no way an expert at this stuff, but judgin from the color, streak, projectory, and location (Australia), it look to me like a burning hot piece of some very durable metal that was falling through the atmosphere. A lost satellite best fits that description.
    Regards,
    Steve

  16. BULLSHIT ALERT by TFGeditor · · Score: 1, Interesting

    One of the original stories on this http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,11 483286%255E13762,00.html credited the photo to amateur photographer Wayne Pryde. The bit about cloud "monitoring" appears only in the APOD story. WTF?

    --
    Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
  17. A meteorite fast enough to vaporize on impact... by Goldenhawk · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Somehow I doubt that a meteorite that was going fast enough to vaporize on impact would leave a *dark* steak in the frame. Secondly, if it was big enough to leave that wide a dark streak, it would make a MUCH bigger impact than that little flash. But moments later, there's no visible sign, even in the water.

    I personally own a similar Canon G-3, and I've never seen a dark streak on the image, even when shooting pictures with a strong point light source (as was speculated for a blowing-out light bulb). In fact, with the G-3, a well known problem is "purple fringing" around bright lights. None of that here, so the bright splotch is probably not that bright.

    I personally subscribe to the "bug in front of the flash" theory.

    (Question: one post suggested the EXIF data shows the flash fired. Why would a halfway decent photog leave the flash on for a distance shot like this? It just risks illuminating the dust between you and the subject matter.)

    --
    --Brandon / Split Infinity Music

  18. Re:It looks like... by cHiphead · · Score: 2, Interesting


    Intel SAT 7, perhaps?

    --

    This is my sig. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
  19. This is an very common phenomenon by Thagg · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You can see this dark streak almost every day in southern california, or almost anyplace that has contrails visible in the sky. When the contrail goes between you and the sun, you can see a dark band coming down from it. Watch for it!

    Basically, what you are seeing is the equivalent of a sunbeam, except that it's a shadow-beam. A sunbeam occurs when there is a small hole in the cloud, and the light going through the hole illuminates the dust particles and water droples in the air along the path of the light. If the light is strong and the background relatively dark, it is easy to see these sunbeams (or God rays.)

    Shadows through the sky are somewhat harder to see, because the contrast is not as great. When they are dramatic, as in this picture, you have to have the fortuitous situation of looking through a long, well defined slab of shadowed air, with well-lit air on either side. Airplane contrails are the perfect shadow source for this.

    Imagine a 3D volume of a shadow cast by a contrail. It is a long thin slab of shadowed air. If you are within that slab, and looking along it, all the air in that direction is shadowed, for many miles, so the contrast between the shadowed air and the surrounding air is strong.

    A good bit of the light around the shadow beam is not light scattered by dust or water droplets, but is just the same Raliegh-scattered light that makes the sky blue. The dark streak through the sky will be noticably darker and especially less blue than the surrounding air.

    As you can tell, this is one of my favorite (of many!) atmospheric optical phenomena. Once you start to look for them, they are quite easy to see. Occasionally you can see them from natual cloud formations or even topographical or architechural features when the conditions are just right.

    Thad Beier

    --
    I love Mondays. On a Monday, anything is possible.
    1. Re:This is an very common phenomenon by corngrower · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You may well be correct in saying that the streak is a shadow of a jet contrail. But I still wonder why it appears only on this photo and not the previous or subsequent one. The 'flash' could just have been the sun reflecting off the glass in the lamp during the exposure. I've noticed this shadow phenomena myself.

  20. Interesting theory...but? by nuknuk · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I like this theory. Interesting!

    The flash/"smoke ring" isn't addressed, but it could be a coincidence? The thing is, it couldn't really be light reflecting off of that pole from the sun, as it would be currently in the path of the "shadow-beam". So what is it?

    --
    You can pick your nodes, and you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your friend's nodes
  21. PROOF by Drexus · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Note the reflection (view my other post on how to filter the reflection using PS channels)

    Before

    Flash

    After

  22. Re:My view by Magic5Ball · · Score: 3, Interesting

    EXIF data says the photo was shot at 1/20 at f5.6. The before, during, after photos were taken at 15s intervals.

    Assuming that the distance between the bulldozer and the surface anomoly site is 100m, if this were a projectile, it would be moving at about 2 kilometres per second.

    Note that the flight path appears slightly parabolic (bulges up), indicating that some non-gravity acceleration is involved.

    Also, why are we assuming that this projectile originated from the sky and not from under the water?

    --
    There are 1.1... kinds of people.
  23. its a bug by Zurgutt · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Seeing the diff reminded me of cool picture i saw on photo site: http://hagar.nomad.ee/pildid/images/3362.jpg
    Cloud of mosquitos caught in flash. Looks like a flying crosses scene from Pink Floyds "The Wall" movie :)

    The actual site is http://foto.kala.ee/

  24. Re:Some numbers by Flave · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Well, if the streak is 100-200 metres and the exposure is 1/20 second, this means that the object was travelling:

    100 m = 100 * 3.3 * 20 * 60 * 60 / 5280 = 4500 mph
    200 m = 200 * 3.3 * 20 * 60 * 60 / 5280 = 9000 mph

    So it was travelling between 4500-9000 mph. Now, considering that the speed of sound on a standard day at sea level is around 750 mph, shouldn't there have been a pretty serious sonic boom?

  25. A straightforward "lens flare" explanation ... by Xcott+Craver · · Score: 2, Interesting
    The sun is behind the camera, and the light flash is very close to being inline with the sun. Plus, it occurs at a point where a (decently reflective) man-made object happens to be.

    This leads me to suspect that the sun reflected intermittently in the glass of the lamp. The tiny "smoke" trail you see around the light looks very much like the light trails that are generated by a point source, such as a candle flame, when a camera vibrates a bit during an exposure.

    How could a reflection be intermittent? I suppose if the top of the light pole was moving around a bit, say from wind or waves, you could have this happen.

    This does not explain the diagonal streak, but a plausible explanation is that the streak is a lens flare from the point flash.

    Xcott