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Re: (meteorobs) Rocket re-entry
David,
Your assumption is correct -- no meteor is ever going to last 90
seconds; if you see one that lasts 5 seconds or longer you are witnessing a rare
meteoric event. It would be important to note the length of sky the object
travels vs. it's duration, as meteors move with incredible speed when compared to
man-made objects. Of course, distance playes a role here -- a cruise missile
passing *close* to the observer might appear to have meteoric speeds. Astronomer
Pete Gural, no stranger to fireballs and their related phenomena, noted the
"trail" left by the re-entry assumed the characteristics of a persistant train,
particularly a fairly rapid change in shape from straight to zig-zig. Given that
upper atmospheric winds cause this to happen, and the object was visible for
about 90 seconds we can be fairly certain it was tens of miles high when it began
and ended it's one minute+ life as a *"fireball"*.
Kim Youmans
Cross David wrote:
> On the off-chance that I ever see a major fireball or re-entry, was the
> fact that the recent one reportedly took 90 seconds to cross a
> substantial part of the sky a clue that it was a re-entry rather than
> meteoric? Are there any other distinguishing features?
>
> David Cross
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