fireball??? in leo?

[amyscott]

hi everyone , just popped out to the garden as was clear good conditions and near the head of leo was the brightest shooting star with the longest tail ive ever seen , did anyone else see it and does anyone know what it actually was?

[JimBobs63]

Was that at around 10.20 this evening?

[amyscott]

think it was more around 11pm , was a few tiny meteors then this light bigger than any star with a trail prob as long as leo itself

[JimBobs63]

Right part of the sky , but no that doesn't seem the same as what I saw...

I'm pretty sure it was the ISS I saw. Moving from the West heading roughly SE, it was brighter than any star as it passed through Leo but then it didn't get much further before the light from it faded till I could barely see it in light-polluted Sw London Skies.

Whatever you saw wasn't that...! How fast did it move across the sky?

Jim

[amyscott]

like i said , about the distance of leo in a second , really fast , and was like it was burning

[JimBobs63]

Wow, sounds like a pretty big meteor to be that bright and to leave a trail like that...

Wished I'd seen it, but I think I probably had my eye glued to the eyepiece at that time.

The Lyrid meteors are around at this time of year - I saw a few late last week, but certainly nothing as bright as your one tonight.

Maybe someone else can confirm whether it was a meteor or something else...?

Jim

[Vapouriser]

Could that be what i saw i wonder. Using 20-80 bins. And another , crossing its path, going north. Both same size , speed and light.

[RogerTheDodger]

I think I saw the same thing cross my eyepiece as I was using Denebola for a star alignment, made me jump...

[Nibor]

Right part of the sky , but no that doesn't seem the same as what I saw...

I'm pretty sure it was the ISS I saw. Moving from the West heading roughly SE, it was brighter than any star as it passed through Leo but then it didn't get much further before the light from it faded till I could barely see it in light-polluted Sw London Skies.

Whatever you saw wasn't that...! How fast did it move across the sky?

Jim

I am also very interested in discovering what this object was - I saw it up Nr Huddersfield and observed it through my 10x50 bins.

It was truly an amazing sight - very bright and fast - as per Jim it faded in the SE.

I have just started in this absorbing hobby so am currently unable to offer a plausible view on what I saw. - But I hope it will appear again!!

[KE400]

I also saw this and nearly jumped out my skin haha! I was waiting for my scope to align and was just generally gazing up to the North when it appeared! I think I also saw the ISS too which seemed to pass West to East if it was it, it then was lost in the atmosphere after a while. Quite a strange night really as I've never seen either before.

[Fenriz]

I saw something large and very bright heading north at maybe 9:45 - 10:00 largest and brightest shooting star I've ever seen, lasted about 2 seconds. Must have been a large meteor as it started out white the changed to a fiery red/orange, I was gobsmacked.

[JamesC]

Saw a good one last night as well. Just got out the car maybe around 2.30 BST and was admiring just how clear it was when a big fireball went vertically down (from my point of view) looking West. Really bright. Left quite a persistent smoke trail. Must have been around Leo although to be honest it didn't register - I must get better at noting that kind of thing. It was especially good because I happened to be looking in the right direction to begin with. I like it when the sky puts on a show when I arrive - I take it as a good omen - and indeed it did turn out to be a good omen. Got some really memorable viewing in. I liked seeing the Milky Way running at an unfamiliar angle. I'm used to seeing Cygnus in the South or West from late summer/autumn, but not in the East. It really shows off that bright limb heading to Ophiuchus. Some nice binocular clusters there. I also got one of the best views of M101 I have seen. The spiral arms were as clear as I have seen them - still ultra faint, but definitely there.