(meteorobs) Large fireball over eastern New Mexico Nov 09 2012

[Thomas Ashcraft]

Hi Bob, Chris and all,

I hesitated mentioning "Tunguska Event" in my previous email.  But there 
is still a possibility that the 1908 Tunguska Event might have been 
caused by a hunk of Comet Encke.  The Taurid fireballs of November are 
particles and chunks of Comet Encke so if we are now seeing Taurids in 
the magnitude range of -18 ( note Dr. Salvador Aguirre's capture a few 
days ago) then it might indicate a swarm of larger or much larger than 
usual Taurids. Who knows?

This morning I captured a -10 Taurid at Nov 10, 2012, 08:11:57 UTC that 
was likely over west Texas, maybe over the Amarillo vicinity.

Clear skies,
Thomas in New Mexico
**

On 11/9/12 2:30 PM, Chris Peterson wrote:
> I seem to be recording a higher than usual number of Taurid fireballs
> this year, including one near Cheyenne, WY this morning that fragmented
> and lit up the sky (apparent magnitude -11 on the horizon 300 km away).
>
> http://www.cloudbait.com/meteor/data.php?recnum=52015
> http://www.cloudbait.com/meteor/data.php?recnum=52003
>
> Chris
>
> *******************************
> Chris L Peterson
> Cloudbait Observatory
> http://www.cloudbait.com
>
> On 11/9/2012 1:29 PM, Robert Lunsford wrote:
>> Thomas and All,
>>
>> Well I would not expect another Tunguska Event but there is the possibility that we are seeing a larger number of Taurid fireballs than usual. These Taurid swarms are periodic and 2012 is a borderline possibility that we are encountering the outlying portion of such a swarm. From now through the time the moon begins to interfere again (around November 24th) would be prime time to try and watch for this activity. After this year, the next opportunity to view a high number of Taurid fireballs should be 2015, which should be significantly better than 2012.
>>
>> Bob