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Re: (meteorobs) Fireball Reporting
In a message dated 96-07-09 22:14:37 EDT, you write:
<<
It's my understanding that sounds can be determined at path heights of less
than about 40 miles. Therefore, a fireball producing sounds would fit into
the NASA plane parameters, but I doubt we would see/hear a fireball at 50
miles in height. This may reduce slightly the "response time." But this is
from someone who has never heard one! :)
Mark Davis
>>
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I think at about 30 miles would be the minimum height that a fireball must
reach in order to create sonic booms or rumblings. I feel rather certain
that we wouldn't hear one coming from a 40 or 50 mile elevation. We would
see them however at 50 miles...dot believe me, when you hear one from a
fireball, there will be no doubt...resembles the sonic booms I hear once in
awhile from jet aircraft....usually a few minutes after the meteors passage.
Really a shocker on a clear night. I'm using the -10 magnitude as a cutoff,
but that's not absolute...If any fireball creates a sonic boom...then it's
reportable to NASA.
As you all probably already read by now...I relayed our first possible
fireball to Zolensky this morning. A fireball from an individual located in
the chicago area reported onto the aol bulletin board about a bright
fireball. Then I had one of our NAMN individuals(JHRUTTEN) who reported to
me this morning about a -8 fireball with a longitude and latitude near the
North western area of Illinois last night...dot it made some low level sonic
booms(rumblings)....the key here for me to report this to him is the sonic
booms. I estimate that it took us about 9 hours to relay this information to
Zolensky. Hopefully, this will give him some idea as to how to work the
"bugs" out of the system?
George Z.