(meteorobs) Thoughts on tonight's fireball

[Tony Beresford]

At 12:58 PM 5/05/05, you wrote:

>        I was talking to my brother in the parking lot of his apartment
>complex in Dallas, Texas around 21:20 Central US Time (UT-6) when I saw
>a *really* bright meteor that started low in the northwest portion of
>the sky and streaked "down" and east for about 30 degrees.  I think it
>started near canis major, since there was light cloud cover from the
>recent rain and I could only identify a few lights through the haze.
>That struck me as remarkable, though, that I could barely make out
>Sirius and this thing shone through the yellowish vapor like a blue -4
>star.  The actual magnitude must have been considerably greater.  No
>discernible train, but I wouldn't expect one under those conditions.
>
>        Any idea which shower this might be, or if perhaps something
>man-made was reentering?  It seemed an odd direction for a meteor at
>this time of night, especially one so bright; then again, it could just
>have been going really fast.
Peter, there are no currently predicted re-entries. If it was fast-moving
for a meteor it couldnt be a re-entry. remember that MAXIMIM possible speed
is only escape velocity ( 11 km/sec) , in fact more like 8Km/sec.
This is much slower than most meteors.

Your sky description is also confusing. I think you meant Southwest not 
North-west.

Tony Beresford