[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
(meteorobs) Fireball Rates in New Zealand
Probably most of us by now has seen the recent Fireball reports from FIDAC
for the month of June. I've noticed something about it this time that
puzzles me. Is it my imagination or does it seem that Fireball rates from
New Zealand are unusually high? Not performing any real checks on it, but it
seems that those guys are always reporting fireballs with magnitudes with
ranges around -8 thru -15 quite frequently. One report of a -20 that was
corrected for -23 was given this time. In this report, I counted 8 fireballs
from New Zealand with magnitudes of -6 or greater while the rest of the world
had 5. Does anybody have any ideas on why there should be more fireballs
for those guys at 38 deg South? Are their magnitudes estimates a little high
maybe? I wonder what their mean magnitudes for any given night is? Or is
there something really going on for that location for a reason? Or is it just
a figment of my imagination? They may be observing more, but I'm not
satisfied with that as an answer. Perhaps they are in a prime location for a
fireball type shower?...I don't know. I wish FIDAC would call for fireballs
to show whether or not they were seen during an organized watch and for how
long? I believe this way an indication on fireball activity can be obtained
based on how long people were looking for them.
George Z.
Follow-Ups: