(meteorobs) Beautiful fireball - space junk?

[mexicodoug at aol.com]

 Hola George and Marco
 
Thanks both for the messages and answers reguarding the (not) space junk.  George, Maybe, -3 or -4 mag. can cast a shadow (I've seen this with Venus on crisp no moon nights).  But, in this case the fireball was as bright as a car headlight illuminating the the area around us.  The astrophotographers were not all very happy in the middle of their exposures.  Anyway, I said at least as bright as -6 magnitude - this was a conservative estimate to be sure.  I should have quoted it as in the range of -6 to -7 during most of it but it seemed at one point to be as bright as a Full Moon, and certainly the lighting up of the sky in the binocular I saw seemed as bright as a full moon since my line of sight was at least 20 degrees away from the light path w thinghen they lit up.  Of course I was dark adapted so it is difficult to be too precise.  It was an incredible fireball generally, but the fact that 700 observers saw it.  
 
Thanks for the comments on color.  The consensus of others was that it was deep green (malachite is the color favored), but I have to admit I was alone at the time in posting thinking is had a hue of blue hidden in the green.  Well someone else just mentioned they saw a bluishgreen at lunch today, and he was a very astute observer...
 
Hope someone can file a report on this fireball, I'm a little shocked that I am the only one reporting it so far...
 
Saludos, Doug
 

-----Original Message-----
From: GeoZay
To: meteorobs at meteorobs.org; MexicoDoug
Sent: Fri, 28 Apr 2006 12:09:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Beautiful fireball - space junk?


>>On the 2006.04.25.16 UT here, in the low northeast sector of  the sky, 
starting in Virgo hatand ending in Hercules, a northerly trajectory  
glowing intense malachite green and at the end of its incandescent path  
broke up into at least 3 fragments. <<
Ah dang it! I just noted one more thing in your description that indicates a meteor rather than re-entering space junk...the color. From what I've heard from those who have actually seen space junk re-entering...space junk tends to look yellowish/orange predominantly. An intense green is more likely to be produced by a meteor. I'm not sure why...I'm guessing the entering velocity might have something to do with it? Space junk is usually in earth orbit and thus at a slower velocity when it re-enters, than say a meteoroid entering the atmosphere. 
George Zay