(meteorobs) Thoughts on tonight's fireball

[GeoZay at aol.com]

Peter>>       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.<<


Tony>>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.<<
 
Other strikes against it being a satellite is that it's path length  is way 
too short and the color blue isn't usually associated with re-entering  
satellite debris. As for a discernible train, I wouldn't expect to see one  that's 
visible, if it's velocity was less than about 35 km/s...even if there  were no 
haze. 
GeoZay