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(meteorobs) Re: Fireball !- spectacular sight for astronomy-impaired me
Forwarded from the astro newsgroups; notice this person is not subsribed to
meteorbs-
Wayne
In article <19981026110852.04902.00001556@ng97.aol.com>
crisalis3@aol.comethalley (Crisalis3) writes:>From: crisalis3@aol.comethalley
(Crisalis3)>Subject: Fireball !- spectacular sight for astronomy-impaired me
>Date: 26 Oct 1998 16:08:52 GMT
>Hello all.
> Although I own a rather nice, expensive telescope and some
>astronomy software, I still know almost nothing about stargazing.
>But last night I saw the most spectacularly wonderful sight, I
>just want to share it with people who understand the experience.
>I've never seen anything like it before.
>
> Between about 6:20 and 6:50 PM CDST last night, I was out
>walking with my dog under a beautiful starscape, showcased by
>a glowing sliver of the moon in the eastern sky. As I turned to
>look at the streaks of clouds that were still hovering low in the
>northern sky, I saw the flash of a bright and beautiful meteor,
>lasting only a couple of seconds. I continued to watch the skies
>from that vantage point, hoping for another meteor, and within a
>few minutes, I saw a second meteor. A couple of minutes later
>I witnessed something I was totally unprepared to see.
>From somewhat higher in the north-northwest sky than the other
>meteors, I saw a huge, oval-shaped ball of white appear, with a
>short tail behind it. I don't know how to define "huge". I think it
>was at least three times larger than Jupiter appeared to be,
>maybe four times. It was very large, much bigger than any star or
>planet I've ever seen in the sky. When I was living the experience,
>I could hardly believe my eyes.
>I watched it silently fall a bit more, and then I saw it "explode" in
>a fiery blast. It lasted only a second, but when the meteor was
>caught in the "explosion" it doubled or tripled in size. At the
>point of its "explosion" the meteor appeared to me to be about
>25% of the size that a full moon takes up in the sky. That's the
>only way I know how to describe how large it was.
> After the fiery blast, it continued its descent for a couple more
>seconds and then vanished. A serious estimate of time for the
>whole scene would be about 6 seconds (of course it seemed to
>last much longer when it was happening).
> I have a few questions for anyone who has the patience to
>respond to an astronomy-impaired person like I am. Thanks in
>advance for your kindness to respond.
> How can I know for sure that what I saw was a meteor, and
> not manmade space debris that entered the atmosphere?
> Is it important that the spectacular meteor I saw was higher
> in the sky than the others? Is that typical of fireballs?
> Is there any way at all to "guestimate" how large this meteor
> might have been? Did it look larger because it was so "close"?
> Are there any photographs on the web showing the kind of
> fireball I describe? (I would love to show my boyfriend what
> I saw)
> Any comments on the subject, I would be grateful for. If
>anybody's seen anything like I saw, please respond and compare
>notes. I'll never forget this experience as long as I live. W/thanks.
> //
>``Cris`` the D'ruby ( ^,,^ ) {{meow}}
> --------------------------- `` ``
>Imago under construction