(meteorobs) RE: [meteorobs] Digest Number 1702

[GeoZay at aol.com]

thunter>>The report of it being as bright as the setting sun is  nonsense.  
That
would require a few million people to have been  subjected to a brief
flash of daylight sky; that is a sky as bright as it  is when the sun is
setting.  People indoors with windows facing the  sky in the OPPOSITE
direction would have been startled.  Portland  would have panicked.<<


I tend  to agree with this.  


thunter>>I have little doubt that it SEEMED as bright as  the setting sun.  
Think
of how blindingly brilliant a light feels once  your eyes are adjusted to
the dark.<<
 
I agree.

thunter>>Also, the "setting sun" varies by many  magnitudes, according to sky
clarity.  But all of those magnitudes  illuminate the entire sky.  And,
illuminate the sky to such an extent  that we call it "daylight".   That
hasn't been  reported.<<
 
I agree.

thunter>>About 40 people reported it to AMS; most  without checking the time 
to
within half an hour.  Had it been  "setting sun" brilliance, the entire
coastal populations of Oregon and  Washington would have become excited.<<
 
yeah...and probably cause a lot of underwear changing. :O)  My gut  feeling 
is that this thing probably reached a magnitude somewhere between -10  to 
-15...probably closer to -12. 
GeoZay