386
Member
I took this photo a couple of years ago and just stumbled across it again. I thought I'd post to see if anybody else has ever captured/identified something similar, and also to contribute the image for any potential future discussions of similar photos.
Camera and settings: RX100, at 10mm (28mm full-frame equivalent), 30 second exposure, f2.2, ISO 125.
Date and location: Brisbane, Australia, Feb 4th 2013 at 3:22 AM. Camera was angled toward the Southern Cross (seen to the upper right of the middle of the photo).
I have captured commercial planes at night before and none have looked like this. I'd expect that even a high altitude military jet would streak more than this over such a long exposure? The 30 second star trails can be seen when zoomed. I didn't notice anything with my naked eye at the time, however the stars were also much dimmer to the naked eye. The contrast and brightness were increased by the long exposure, and then boosted even further digitally after noticing the blue/green anomaly.
1) Lucky timing on a faint meteor or space junk burning up? Could the green and blue indicate copper?
2) Plane/afterburner, rocket, or satellite positioning at high altitude?
3) Comet? However, I posted this on an astronomy forum when the photo was taken and any known comets were ruled out by users with astronomy software and greater knowledge than I. The thread then remained as unidentified.
4) Lens flare?
Increased brightness.
100% crop.
Crude constellation guide to help anybody trying to orientate themselves on star/comet maps.
Camera and settings: RX100, at 10mm (28mm full-frame equivalent), 30 second exposure, f2.2, ISO 125.
Date and location: Brisbane, Australia, Feb 4th 2013 at 3:22 AM. Camera was angled toward the Southern Cross (seen to the upper right of the middle of the photo).
I have captured commercial planes at night before and none have looked like this. I'd expect that even a high altitude military jet would streak more than this over such a long exposure? The 30 second star trails can be seen when zoomed. I didn't notice anything with my naked eye at the time, however the stars were also much dimmer to the naked eye. The contrast and brightness were increased by the long exposure, and then boosted even further digitally after noticing the blue/green anomaly.
1) Lucky timing on a faint meteor or space junk burning up? Could the green and blue indicate copper?
2) Plane/afterburner, rocket, or satellite positioning at high altitude?
3) Comet? However, I posted this on an astronomy forum when the photo was taken and any known comets were ruled out by users with astronomy software and greater knowledge than I. The thread then remained as unidentified.
4) Lens flare?
Increased brightness.
100% crop.
Crude constellation guide to help anybody trying to orientate themselves on star/comet maps.
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