Re: Fireball over Texas

From: David Tiller (dtiller@captechconsulting.com)
Date: Thu Feb 02 2012 - 23:24:41 UTC

  • Next message: Bram Dorreman: "SatObs 4160 (BD) 2012-02-02"

    My wife's grandson in Temple TX saw it, and it had a definite tail. Blew his 12 year old mind. 
    
    On Feb 2, 2012, at 18:23, "Benjamin Monjay" <ke7dkg@gmail.com> wrote:
    
    > It might be due to the quality of the camera and the fact that the iris was
    > probably closed pretty tight due to the bright lights. That's my best guess.
    > 
    > 
    > On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 3:04 PM, Chris Zietkiewicz <mtnresearch@gmail.com>wrote:
    > 
    >> Thank you for posting.
    >> 
    >> Yes, a fireball over Texas; I read a few witness reports this morning (some
    >> posted below).
    >> 
    >> This is a strangest looking fireball video I have ever seen; slow but very
    >> bright (magnitude -13) without a prominent plasma tail.  Can anyone
    >> speculate why "white plasma" debris is not observed trailing from a
    >> reentering object this bright?
    >> 
    >> Chris Zietkiewicz
    >> 
    >> 
    >>> From www.spaceweather.com
    >> 
    >> Eye-witness Daryn Morran reports: "At approximately 756pm CST, over
    >> Abilene,
    >> Texas, I saw an object falling from the sky much brighter and long-lasting
    >> than anything I've seen. [The fireball] lasted close to 8 secs before
    >> completely burning out. At first, it was bright white, and then started
    >> slowing down and getting brighter. Then it exploded like a firecracker
    >> artillery shell into several pieces, flickered a few more times and then
    >> slowly burned out... awesome!!!"
    >> 
    >> Another observer in Coppell, Texas, reported a "double boom heard at
    >> 8:00:30
    >> CST. [The object appeared to be] 1/2 the size of the waxing moon, and broke
    >> into two major chucks with many smaller pieces. It had a 'white plasma'
    >> (sun-colored) look with a long golden tail." (This report was relayed by
    >> NWS
    >> meteorologist Joe Harrris in Frt Worth.)
    >> 
    >> According to Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, this was
    >> probably a natural object--a small asteroid about the size of a car or
    >> bus--not a decaying satellite or other manmade space debris. The fireball,
    >> which disintegrated in the general vicinity of Dallas-Fort Worth, was
    >> bright
    >> enough to be seen on NASA cameras located in New Mexico more than 500 miles
    >> away. "It was about as bright as the full Moon (astronomical magnitude
    >> -13)," estimates Cooke, who is still analyzing data and sighting reports in
    >> hopes of calculating the object's orbit. He might yet figure out where the
    >> Texas fireball came from. Stay tuned for updates.
    >> 
    >> 
    >> -----Original Message-----
    >> From: seesat-l-bounces+mtnresearch=gmail.com@satobs.org
    >> [mailto:seesat-l-bounces+mtnresearch=gmail.com@satobs.org] On Behalf Of
    >> Jesus Leonardo Pacheco Fajardo
    >> Sent: Thursday, February 02, 2012 3:15 PM
    >> To: seesat-l@satobs.org
    >> Subject: Fireball over Texas
    >> 
    >> 
    >> A fireball was observed by a police car camera last night
    >> 
    >> 
    >> http://www.spaceweather.com/images2012/02feb12/dashcam.mov?PHPSESSID=9esf2fd
    >> pkuumlcs7dkva6350f3
    >> 
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