Mike's Astro Photos » Video

Newly Acquired Meteor Video

Mike Hankey — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 23:42:54 +0000

This video shows a shadow that is cast from a flag pole caught in the light of the Mason Dixon Meteor on July 6th 2009. This is certainly the best shadow video we have acquired yet. The tall flag pole casts a long shadow and mutliple frames of movement were captured. If you would like to know more information about this video or watch the high res version please email me at mike.hankey [at] gmail.com.

Another PA Fireball Video Surfaces

Mike Hankey — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:58:42 +0000

A new video of the PA Fireball has surfaced. That makes 3! The authenticity of this video has yet to be confirmed, but initial reports/analysis are looking positive.

Harmar Township NE of downtown Pittsburgh: Outdoor hi-res cam caught this FIREBALL (or UFO?) during the evening of July 5, 2009. Coming from NW to ESE.

Special Thanks to Dirk Ross for tracking down this new video and sending it to me!

Update: I have talked to the owner / creator of this video tape and she sounds for real. She is sending me pics of the location and a google map that shows the line of site. I will post it when I get it.

Safe Harbor Update

Mike Hankey — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:12:59 +0000

I went out to the Safe Harbor Dam again today and met with the facilities manager. He didn’t want his name mentioned so we will just call him Bob. I picked up the video on DVD Saturday and Bob wasn’t there as he started his vacation that Friday. He emailed me today and said if I brought a thumb drive with me he could give me a better quality video. I met him at the dam at 6:00 PM and we talked about the video, where the cameras were and what he thought the meteor path would have been based on his knowledge of the plant and video. I was way off on my original observations and subsequent conclusions. When I first viewed the video and surveyed the site, I believed the cameras were in certain places when in reality they were in totally different places. So Bob helped me out big time understanding the layout of the dam and the path this meteor took when it passed by. He also came into the office while he was on his vacation and worked with me for over an hour. Thanks so much Bob!

Here is the video. I have edited the footage to include slow motion view, images of the site and the line of site and meteor path projections map. Watch the whole thing, the best images are at the end.

Important note about time in video (1:04:45): I talked to Bob about the clocks in his videos and asked if they were on time. He was adamant that the clocks were perfect time as this is required because they are a federal organization.

Here are the two full length un-edited videos. They are both about 1 minute long. Cam 1 event happens about halfway through. Cam 2 event happens in the beginning.

Cam 1 Full Length Highest Res Possible

Cam 2 Full Length Highest Res Possible

For easy reference here are some of the pictures used in the video:

Safe Harbor cam 1 top view

Safe Harbor cam 1 top side view

Camera 2 Line of Site View

Camera 2 opposing view

Click Picture Below For Bing Maps View

Safe Harbor camera line of site and estimated (best guess) meteor path

Check out Microsoft’s Bing for bird’s eye views of Safe Harbor. Bing Maps is so money. The satellite images are much higher quality and more current than any other earth software out there. Plus birds eye view is SICK!

Click Picture Below For Bing Maps birds eye view

A lot of other stuff has happened today. I have much to report from the field dealing with crazy angry people to pleasant helpful Amish farmers. I also have lots of news from the NASA source but I have to keep that under wraps for a little while still (sorry). Its late, I will post again tomorrow.

Video Simulation Of Meteor

Mike Hankey — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:39:32 +0000

This video is not REAL! Its just a simulation. A few nights after the meteor flew over I setup a CSI re-enactment of the event. I put my scope at the location where I believe the picture was taken the night before. I used a laser to pinpoint where in the sky my scope was pointing. (the accuracy of the position may be flawed, but this video is just meant to illustrate what it may have looked like.)

This is a simulation / best guess. Please if you are a meteor expert and have criticism of this simulation please send it to me so we can make improvements to the video.

Special thanks to Doctor Vincent Perlerin and his associates from Paris for analyzing the pictures and working on this video. Vincent you are the man!

Front Page News & Another TV Interview

Mike Hankey — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:38:54 +0000

Yesterday was a great day! In addition to being my first day as a meteorite hunter I also had my pictured published on the first page of the Baltimore Sun and the York Daily Record. I also recorded an interview with the local Baltimore ABC news that aired at 5:30 and again at 11.

Here is a link to the story and video on the ABC2 news website:

ABC2 News story about Mason Dixon Meteor

Special thanks to Joce Sterman of ABC news. She made me feel very comfortable, asked great questions and was very knowledgeable about meteorites and this story.

Also special thanks to Frank Roylance of the Baltimore Sun. Frank your story sent chills up my spine. I bought about 50 copies of the sun yesterday. Can I order more. I’d like to put in an order for 1000 copies please. Who do I contact at the sun about that?

I have a lot of cool things in the pipe line: new scientific data relating to the trajectory, simulated pictures of the night sky as the meteor flew thru it and a simulated video. I’m also filming a documentary about the hunt for the Mason Dixon Meteor. Stay tuned!

Mike’s Interview with WJZ Channel 13 in Baltimore

Mike Hankey — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:33:59 +0000

This past Monday Kai Jackson and a camera man named Darrel from WJZ came out to my house to interview me about my meteor picture. They arrived at my house around 7, recorded for well over an hour. Kai asked me a lot of great questions and really seemed genuinely interested in the story and my experience. I only got about 15 seconds of face time when it aired but he had a lot of footage of me answering questions about the picture and the event. I’m going to try and see if I can get the raw interview tape from him, but I think that might be a long shot.

Here are a few pictures my friend Vincent took during the interview. Take a close look at the last one. There’s something a little strange about it.

First Astro Photo Ever

Mike Hankey — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 19:40:09 +0000

Here’s the first astro photo (video) I’ve ever taken.

The motion of the moon thru the picture is actually coming from the Earth’s rotation and not scope movement. I had just gotten the scope setup for the first time when I took this and didn’t have any tracking on. I used the celestron Next Image CCD / Webcam to take this movie on a Celestron CPC 1100 telescope.