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(meteorobs) May 3 Manitoba fireball
Guys -
This is a cross-posting from our RASC list.
- Cathy
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: TAdshead@aol.com
Date: Sun, 4 May 1997 00:12:01 -0400 (EDT)
To: jander@cc.UManitobadot ca
cc: CBlack@mtsdot net, cbrown@cc.UManitobadot ca
Subject: Re: Fireball
Hi Jay. You probably don't know me, but I used to be a RASC member a couple
of years back, until I took a midnight shift at the post office downtown. My
Name is Tim Adshead, and I wasn't sure who exactly to report this to.
On Sat., May 3 1997 at approximately 10:16 pm Winnipeg time, I spotted an
unusually bright meteor (?) in the late evening twighlight. I was in my
"excessively lit" backyard in River Park South when it passed overhead. My
conservative estimate of it's brightness was 4 times as bright as Venus. When
looking north, it was at approximately 70 degrees altitude and travelling in
a east to west direction.
I did not see the entire event, as I was beside my house and my eaves
obstructed most of the show. And I just happened to turn my head in that
direction when it passed overhead in an unusually slow fashion. But the
portion that I saw spanned roughly 85 degrees. I was wondering if what I saw
could be classified as a fireball.
I watched it slowly break up, and waited for a sound, but I live in a high
traffic area, and couldn't make out anything distinct.
Checking my shower table, I noticed that the Eta Aquarids peak on May 4.
Could this have been an eta aquarid meteor? It was a yellow/white/green
color(with emphasis on the yellow). And it had a very large smoke/steam
trail.
If you know of anyone else observing this, please e-mail me or forward my
e-mail address to them. I am curious, as I have seen some very bright
perseids with Stan Runge at the observatory, and they pale greatly compared
to this.
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