Spectroscopic anatomy of a meteor with the Very Large Telescope (ESO)

A meteor spectrum in the range 637 - 1050 nm was recorded serendipitously at the ESO Very Large Telescope during a long exposure in long-slit spectroscopic mode with FORS1. The meteor crossed the narrow 1" x 7' slit during normal service mode operation on May 12, 2002. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of a spatially resolved spectrum across a meteor trail. The trail is wider than expected and the plasma excitation temperature varies only from about 4,300 to 4,365 K across the trail, based on the ratio of atomic and molecular nitrogen emissions. The observed width could originate from a range of fragments that have spread significantly at the time of the observation. Finally, carbon atom emission is not detected in the relatively unexplored range above 900 nm.