(meteorobs) Forwarded fireball report from Virginia

[meteoreye at comcast.net]

Interesting had a report from an NJAA member at ~ the same time 
"
Hi Wayne,
We saw a massive fireball last night: wanted to give you the
information and find out if you heard about it.

We were driving S on Hwy 87, near the Catskills. At approx. 10pm, a
huge fireball went across our view, going E to W. It looked like it
flared for a moment, dimmed and changed trajectory, then flared
again. The fireball was blue-green and the tail was yellow-orange,
and the ghost stayed in the air for a second or two.

It was awesome.


-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: Thomas Ashcraft <ashcraft at heliotown.com> 

> 
> 
> I am forwarding this report that was sent to me by an observer in 
> Virginia. - Thomas Ashcraft 
> 
> ::::::::::::::::: 
> 
> Hello, 
> 
> I saw and heard(!) a bright fireball from Yorktown, Va on 04 Aug 2008 at 
> 0159 UT. Does someone collect these types of sightings? I don't know 
> if anyone is interested, but the particulars follow: 
> 
> My location: 76d 33m 22.5s W; +37d 16m 06.3s N; 3m elevation (Google Earth) 
> Time: Aug 3, 2008 at 9:59 EDT (2008 Aug 04 0159 UT) - give or take 1 
> minute. 
> Description: 
> 
> I had just finished setting up a TeleVue sdf 4" refractor at a road-side 
> pull-off from the Colonial Parkway to work on the Astronomical League's 
> Double Star observing program, and was getting some eyepieces laid out. 
> I try to avoid looking at bright lights so I can get dark adapted, and 
> was annoyed that something was shining a bright light at me. With my 
> head turned away, I saw enough light to see my shadow - I though it was 
> a Park Ranger shining a spot or a car pulling into the turn off. Then I 
> figured the illumination was coming from too high an angle - my shadow 
> was cast down into my eyepiece box. When I turned, I heard a sizzling 
> sound and saw two broken trails of meteor light, nearly colinear, but 
> they were separate white and bright green streaks. Each trail was 
> broken - dashes of varying lengths of green along one path or white 
> along the other line. 
> 
> Since this illuminated my surroundings better than the full moon, I'd 
> estimate it at brighter than -10 magnitude. The sections were running 
> next to each other, reminiscent of the Shuttle re-entry breakup over 
> Texas a few years ago. No post-event trails (smoke) were seen. When I 
> turned, the light had been in progress for just a second or two 
> (impression - not measured). The meteor path I witnessed ran below the 
> W of Cassiopeia and into Camelopardalis. Afterward, I ran Starry Night 
> and estimate the fireball was seen from Az = 38 deg, El = 23 deg over to 
> down and northward at Az = 11 deg, El = 16 deg as it continued to break 
> up. It must have originated much higher and more eastward. There is a 
> body of water just about 90 yards away in that direction (York River), 
> followed by more land (Gloucester shore is 2.5 miles east), and then the 
> Chesapeake Bay (17 miles away). I did not see impact, as it appeared to 
> burn out at 16 deg elevation. 
> 
> I'm confused by the audible report. I've heard just one fireball in the 
> past, but that was more than 20 years ago. That one was more of a pop 
> or bang as opposed to this fairly soft sizzle sound. The sound vs light 
> speeds also would indicate this was nearby, but the sound quit before 
> the visual faded. I heard the sound as I turned around - so it was 
> delayed from me being cognizant of the light by only a few (< about 2?) 
> seconds. This is by impression - not by timing. No photo or video 
> records were made. 
> 
> Please forward as you see fit. 
> 
> Regards, 
> Mark Croom 
> 
> mark.a.croom (at) nasa.gov 
> 
> 
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