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Re: (meteorobs) Fwd: Very unusual meteor??? Re-entry??? Little greenmen??? I don't know...
This was 9:28 eastern time. from Sharpsburg Md.
LAT. 39 28' LONG 77 43' 30"
So I'd call this around a -8 fireball. Not bad for an early evening sit in
my son's wading pool huh?
John N
Here's the original post.
I saw a very, very, unusual sight last night. Now I'm not as experienced as
some of you, but I have been observing showers regularly since the '96
Leonids. I was sitting outside last evening, gazing upward as I always do
when there are stars out. I was shocked as a gigantic, oddly shaped, very
bright, very slow, fireball-like object appeared, It wasn't even dark
enough for me to pick out the constellations at this point. I first saw it
approx 20 degrees SE of the zenith. The leading edge appeared sort of flat
and wide, almost half the width of a full moon. A trail followed off center
of the body. It was very close to matching the brightness of the moon,
(-7 or -8??) which was also in my view (Discounting last years leonid
fireball frenzy this was by far the brightest meteor-like phenomena I have
ever seen). It traveled very slowly (giving me time to exclaim "Holy sh**"
and lean forward so that I could look around my grape vines as it
approached the horizon. As it approached the horizon my view was obstructed
by my nieghbors tree, but through the tree I watched and it remained very
bright, well down into the haze and light pollution of wash. DC, traveling
SSE, I lost sight as it approached the horizon, I did not see it extinguish
but lost sight while it was still as bright as ever. This was observed from
LAT. 39 28' LONG 77 43' 30"
at 9:28 PM Eastern time.
I will try to give you an idea of the shape below, since it was so unusual.
Zzz
Zzzzz
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Zzzzzz
Zzzzz
Zzzz
Zzz
Zz
Z
This is not a very good representation, but gives an idea of what I mean by
large flat head, off center trail.
So..... What do you think?
John N
Mark Davis <MeteorObs@charlestondot net> on 06/24/99 05:52:47 PM
Please respond to meteorobs@jovian.com
To: Meteor Observing List <meteorobs@jovian.com>
cc:
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fwd: Very unusual meteor??? Re-entry??? Little
greenmen??? I don't know...
Hi John,
I must have missed the first posting on this, but can you repeat the date
and time of this and also where you were observing from? I have received
another report of a possible fireball, listed at the brightness of the
moon.
Btw, as a rough guide, I consider the full moon at about -12.0 magnitude or
so, while a quarter moon comes in at around -8.0 magnitude, and finally a
crescent moon is at -6.0.
Mark
----- Original Message -----
From: <newtonj@ttc.com>
To: <meteorobs@jovian.com>
Sent: Thursday, June 24, 1999 1:07 PM
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fwd: Very unusual meteor??? Re-entry??? Little
greenmen??? I don't know...
A few more questions, I was unsure as to whether to submit a fireball
report due to the extremely odd nature of this sighting. I'm sure it was
something burning up as it entered the atmosphere, but it was so wierd I
had a hard time convincing myself that it was a genuine meteorite. Also
what Is the current magnitude of the moon, as a comparison, this object was
very close to the brightness of the moon last night.
Fireballs are soooo cool!
John N
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