A CCD image of a "Blue Jet"

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Imaged from Mt. Airy Maryland 9/11/97 around 21:47 EDT


3 frames from a CCD sequence looking at distant thunderstorms on the night of 09/11/97. EDC-1000 with 8mm lens at ~f/3. Each image is 1 second in duration. The center image has what appears to be a "Blue Jet" above the glow caused by the lightning. This jet may be similar to the "massive" jet visually observed on the night of 8/16/97, although it may have actually been close by.

These are..uh..well...sorry they look like crap. Note the lens flares upper left. The moon was waxing gibbous very close by. Lots of "noise" in the signal too.

Visuals...
Observed a few bright bright and short lived flashes. I think that these were caused by "elves" as in my 8/16/97 observations.

Moon was waxing gibbous and was 20 - 30 degrees away to the upper left of the thunderstorm activity.

The weather in the observed area had previously dumped up to 4.5 inches per reports the following day. These were decaying t-storms. I had previously been observing east and saw the short flashes but had too many obstructions to make any observations.

All things considered, these objects are within "easy" reach of very low grade CCD's. It seems that little is known about them too. Amateur Astronomers have the ability to make a contribution to science in this area. Looks like low light level color vid-cam footage is most desireable for duration timing and propagation of these objects. I'm currently seeking better equipment for this "sport".

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