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Re: (meteorobs) Firball Noise (was Where we all are)
Back around 1973 a friend and I were watching the Perseids when we saw a
meteor come out of the zenith and move to within 15 or so degrees of the
horizon. We estimated the magnitude as about -6, but that being the
brightest meteor I had seen up to that time (less than one year experience)
that estimate could be off. Anyway, just before the meteor vanished it
flashed brightly like a camera flashbulb. I turned to my friend and quickly
made the comment that we had just had our pictures taken by a spy
satellite. Before either of us could react to that statement, we heard a
short, low-pitched boom. We immediately looked at each other, realizing we
had heard our first bolide!
The second sound was heard during the mid-1980s, during my heyday as a
meteor observer (I now spend my most of my personal time observing comets,
researching and analysing comets and meteor showers, and writing). Anyway,
I was trying to confirm minor meteor radiants and maybe even discover new
ones by primarily observing during periods when major showers were absent.
Although I never found a new one, I was successful in confirming several.
One night in February I saw my brightest meteor ever. It was about
magnitude -10. It first appeared high in the southern sky and moved through
the zenith, actually seeming to speed up as it moved. It suddenly
fragmented into about a half dozen pieces, which continued moving northward
a short distance before vanishing. About the moment the last pieces
vanished, I heard a short-lived sound like distance thunder. The noise was
so striking, I ran into the house and checked the weather to see how close
any storms may have been. As it turned out, the midwest was completely
clear! Certainly an amazing experience!
Gary W. Kronk