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(meteorobs) Fireballs

>From: drussom@webtvdot net
>Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 18:03:29 -0400
>Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fireballs
>
>Here I go sounding stupid but just what are fireballs?  
>
>Debby 

It's a trite old phrase but true: "There is no such thing as a stupid question".

Fireballs are just really bright meteors.  You'll see different thresholds
quoted for the point where a meteor is bright enough to be called a
fireball, but most will agree that anything brighter than magnitude -4 or so
(about the brightness of the planet Venus) constitutes a fireball.

You may also see the term 'bolide' used with bright meteors, this just means
a fireball that explodes with a bright flare at the end of its atmospheric
passage.

Most of the interest in fireballs from folks in general lies in the
potential for recovering the fallen meteorites one may generate.  Very few
will generate a meteorite fall, though, and for a fall to be likely the
fireball has to usually be brighter than the full moon.

I'm primarily interested in fireballs for their potential for determining a
lot about the meteoroid that created it.  By getting reports from a number
of people who've seen the same fireball from different vantage points, one
can use a lot of spherical trigonometry and determine the original orbit of
the meteoroid, as well as figure about where any meteorites may have fallen.

Some organizations collect fireball information, and you'll find their
representatives here on the list.  We're kind of like football fans though
-- I may be a fan of the Packers, and others here may like the Bears, and
we're sometimes pretty vocal in our opinions.  But one thing is certain, we
all like football!  And here we all like meteors.

Mostly fireballs are just really cool things to see, the brass ring at a
meteor observing session.  Almost everyone here has their favorite fireball
story. 

So keep looking up, and if you see a bright on from the golf course (I used
to sneak on to the high school football field, and lay face up on the 50
yard line, it was dark and quiet!)let us know.

Jim Bedient
Electronic Information Coordinator
American Meteor Society
http://www.serve.com/meteors  

  
Jim Bedient
Honolulu, Hawaii