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RE: (meteorobs) Possible alert : Taurids
A friend and I both witnessed the same meteor on the night of 10/30 at
approximately 9:40PST over the San Fransisco Bay Area. Both of us were
driving at the time, approximately 30 miles away from one another. We were
able to confirm it was the same meteor based on time and description, though
the location in the sky was different for the two of us because of the
distance between us. From my vantage on a freeway in Oakland I saw it pass
near the moon and Jupiter headed towards the horizon. My friend saw it in
much darker skies and said it left a glowing trail for several seconds. I'm
assuming it was at least as bright as Jupiter, given that it caught my
attention against a moonlit city sky. This brings me to my question, based
on the following thread:
$You are correct...the brightness, what we call the magnitude
$does classify a
$fireball. A meteor of magnitude -3.0 or brighter is normally
$considered a
$fireball and is archived by both AMS and FIDAC (Fireball Data
$Center). A
$rough guide to how bright this is would be the planet Venus,
$which would be
$a little brighter at -4.0 or so.
$
With few bright magnitude markers in the sky other than Jupiter, Venus, the
moon, and the sun, how do regular meteor observers estimate magnitudes
brighter than -3?
Incidently, I'm dissapointed to learn that the definition of a fireball
includes magnitudes I'd always considered uncommon but not exceptional. I'd
always assumed a fireball was an object that rivaled the moon for brightness
and stood a better than average chance of striking the ground. Something
that would make the evening news. Something that an avid observer might see
only a few times in a lifetime, if at all. Is there a better term for this
type of meteor?
-Robert
References: