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The latest update on
developments concerning the Leonid MAC airborne campaigns.
Update November 26, 2001
 Slit-less spectra of persistent train emission.
PERSISTENT TRAIN EMISSION
Not one, but several persistent trains were captured in low-resolution
spectra by Czech astronomer Dr. Jiri Borovicka, who obtained similar results
during the 1999 Leonid MAC mission. Dr. Borovicka observed from our ground site at
Mount Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona.
The spectrum in the figure is from the bright fireball
that was reportedly seen in the night prior to the Leonid storm at 12:57 UT (Nov. 17).
It shows the zero-order image to the right
and the first order spectrum to the left. As before, the spectrum shows
an emission line from sodium and a broad molecular band emission that
was identified as the
"orange arc" emisison of FeO based on
observations from the 1999 Leonid MAC mission and laboratory
analysis by Dr. John Plane of the University of East Anglia. In addition, there
is strong emission at longer wavelengths in the red and near-IR. Dr. Borovicka
also obtained spectra at an earlier phase, showing numerous lines caused by
the recombination of ions and electrons. This is a newly recognized phase in
meteor spectroscopy.
More results can be found at Dr. Borovicka's
Leonids 2001 site.
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