Did this meteor take a twisting path? No one is sure.
Considered opinions are solicited. Meteors, usually sand sized grains that originate in comets, will typically disintegrate as they enter the
Earth's atmosphere. A fast moving meteor ionizes molecules in the Earth's atmosphere that subsequently glow when they reacquire
electrons. Meteor paths that twist noticeably have been
noted before, and even photographed, but attributing such behavior to the motion of the meteor itself and neither the wind-blown meteor train nor the observer remains somewhat controversial. The above meteor, imaged two weeks ago streaking over the
Teide Observatory in
Tenerife,
Canary Islands, appears to swagger as much as several
minutes of arc, which the experienced astrophotographer did not think could be attributed to drifting of the
resulting train or motion of the camera mount. If truly an indication of a twisted meteor path, an underlying reason could be the pictured meteor was markedly non-spherical in shape, non-uniform in composition, or
electrically charged. Non-uniform
meteors, for example, may evaporate more on one side than another, causing a
rotating meteor to wobble. Understanding meteors is important partly because meteors are candidates to have seeded
Earth with
prebiotic molecules that allowed for the
development of life.