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(meteorobs) (Fwd) Bright meteor Saturday nigh
Just thought I would cross post this incase there had been some
mention of it in California. If not, disregard
Kim
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
Date: 10 Mar 1998 14:58:18 -0800
From: "ROB MATSON" <ROBERT.D.MATSON@cpmx.saic.com>
Subject: Bright meteor Saturday nigh
To: "Nancy Hendrickson" <stjoemo@ibmdot net>,
"SeeSat-L@cds.plasma.mpe-garch" <SeeSat-L@cds.plasma.mpe-garching.mpgdot de>
Hello all,
Nancy Hendrickson wrote:
> I,too, saw what I first thought were meteors. I was driving home to San
> Diego from Orange County about 8:00 p.m. SATURDAY night, the 7th.
> What I saw was so bright I wondered if I was seeing something from a
> decaying spacecraft. When I got home I pulled out my astronomy
> references but there was no meteor shower noted. Anyone else see
> this Saturday, not Sunday?
I was hesistant to post this to Seesat-L since I was confident that what
I saw was a very bright meteor, but since there have been a few posts,
I wanted to rule out the possibility of a satellite reentry.
I was driving north on the 710 freeway just south of the 405 freeway and
north of Long Beach, CA, when I observed a very bright, slow-moving
meteor about 30 to 40 degrees above the west-northwest horizon at exactly
7:30pm PST (3:30 UT on Sunday, 8 March 1998). I probably did not
catch the beginning of this meteor since it was nearly 80 degrees to the
left of the direction I was looking. If it hadn't been so bright -- at least
magnitude -6 or -7, I would not have seen it.
It travelled vertically downward -- directly toward the horizon (thus ruling
out a satellite reentry). My recollection was that it was slightly bluish,
which I thought was rather unusual for a meteor. I only saw it for about
1-and-a-half seconds before it burned out (still above the horizon). I
listened to radio news for the next half-hour, but no mention was
made of the meteor. --Rob
Moonlight Cascade
44.28.28N 76.29.45W
Astronomy, Cooking & Health
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