Mystery Object

[middy]

On 20/7/06 I took about 5 widefield images of the area around Neptune. The first image I took had an 'extra' point of light on the first image. It didn't appear on any of the other 4 images. The image below is a crop from the first and second frames. The images were all 64 sec exposures.

I first thought it must be a hot pixel on the chip, but then surely it would appear on all the images and not just the first one.

Any ideas? UFO perhaps??

[Zac Pujic]

It is most likely a cosmic ray strike.

Zac

[middy]

Originally Posted by Zac Pujic

It is most likely a cosmic ray strike.

Zac

Cool, my first cosmic ray image!!

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

[Dennis]

Andrew, after a close inspection of the adjacent pixels in your image, their anomalous configuration and vortex signature, along with the high energy after glow in the thermal imprint layer of the residual magnetic field, I judge it to be a GCR.

Galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) come from outside the solar system but generally from within our Milky Way galaxy. GCRs are atomic nuclei from which all of the surrounding electrons have been stripped away during their high-speed passage through the galaxy. They have probably been accelerated within the last few million years, and have traveled many times across the galaxy, trapped by the galactic magnetic field. GCRs have been accelerated to nearly the speed of light, probably by supernova remnants. As they travel through the very thin gas of interstellar space, some of the GCRs interact and emit gamma rays, which is how we know that they pass through the Milky Way and other galaxies. (NASA)

Cheers

Dennis

[middy]

Originally Posted by Dennis

Andrew, after a close inspection of the adjacent pixels in your image, their anomalous configuration and vortex signature, along with the high energy after glow in the thermal imprint layer of the residual magnetic field, I judge it to be a GCR.

That would have been my second guess after the hot pixels idea. I was confused by the high energy after glow intertwined within the vortex signature at first, but of course I had forgotten about the thermal imprint layer of the residual magnetic field and its effect on the duality of the high energy interchange flux reaction.

It all makes sense now. Thanks Professor.

[Astroman (Andrew Wall)]

If its not a GCR, my guess, because of the brightness of the objeject is a micro meteorite hitting the atmosphere directly in line with you, so you dont see a tail, just a flash of light. The micro meteorite could only be the size of a grain of sand or less, but enough heat generated as it hits the atmosphere to cause the flash.