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(meteorobs) Significant North American Fireballs - 2/8/01 to 6/13/01
Here is a brief summary of the significant fireball events occurring over
North America in 2001 (to date), for which multiple eyewitness accounts
were received by the American Meteor Society (AMS). Note that there were a
couple of events which were widely reported on MeteorObs, but for which we
received only one report, and are thus not listed here. A detailed table
of the individual fireball reports is located at:
http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireball/fireball_log.html
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Significant Fireball Events Over North America for 2001: AMS Reports
* March 7, 2001 @ ~0514 UTC: A -7 to -10 magnitude, white-green fireball
occurred over central Oklahoma in the late evening (2315 local time), and
was reported by 2 witnesses.
* April 4, 2001 @ ~0213 UTC: A -4 to -9 magnitude, green fireball occurred
over Tucson, Arizona in the early evening (1913 local time), and was
reported by 2 witnesses.
* April 16, 2001 @ ~0525 UTC: A -9 to -12 magnitude, blue-white fireball
occurred over eastern Texas shortly after midnight (0025 local time), and
was reported by 3 witnesses.
** April 18, 2001 @ ~0225 UTC: A -9 to -12 magnitude, green fireball
occurred over several midwestern states in the mid-evening (2125 local
time). The fireball track ran *roughly* north to south over the
Mississippi River valley: it was observed to travel NE to SE as viewed
from Nebraska and South Dakota, while travelling NW to SW as viewed from
Illinois and Wisconsin. The brilliant green "7-Up bottle" color of the
fireball was commented upon by most of the 7 witnesses who reported this
event (4 being in Illinois).
* April 25, 2001 @ ~0100 UTC: A -9 to -12 magnitude, multi-colored
fireball occurred over eastern Texas in the mid-evening (2000 local time),
and was reported by 2 witnesses.
** May 6, 2001 @ ~0915 UTC: A > -12 magnitude, white/bluish-white fireball
occurred over three northeastern states in the early morning (0515 local
time). This fireball is most likely associated with the Eta Aquarid meteor
shower, which was near its peak on that morning. The fireball was observed
to begin roughly N to NE as viewed from Massachusetts, New York, and
Pennsylvania, and traveling roughly towards the NW. It was reported by 4
witnesses.
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As of June 13, 2001, we have received 67 usable fireball reports,
describing 54 separate events.
Best regards,
Jim Richardson
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James Richardson (graduate student)
Department of Planetary Sciences
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721
LPL email: jrich@lpl.arizonadot edu
LPL office: (520) 621-6960
Home office: (520) 877-2555
Home page: http://www.lpl.arizonadot edu/~jrich/
Operations Manager
American Meteor Society (AMS)
AMS email: richardson@amsmetoers.org
AMS webpage: http://www.amsmeteors.org/
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