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Earth grazing meteor 02:58am 14/07/2011


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HI hope this is the right place to post, I was out in the garden at around 02:58am this morning and casually looking up at Jupiter in the East and the Moon in the South and a Meteor suddenly appeared below the elevation of Jupiter and streaked from the North East and kept going down into the Southern horizon, not sure if it completely burnt up or just disappeared from view because of some low cloud cover, absolutely amazing, I would love to know if anyone else saw it or has heard of any reports of one landing anywhere?

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it is pretty awesome aye...I was out getting the cows in at 5.50 am asbout two weeks ago when I looked up to the North-east I saw a meteorite burning up on an east west course....and man, was it bright! lit up the whole sky like a good search and rescue flare does...I heard a supersonic boom not long after I saw it so it must have been rather close!

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I have just realsied my mistake, it was early hours of this morning which means I should of stated todays date for 02:58am on 15th July.......doh!

From now on I am going to take my camera out with me every time just in case

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Hi

This is my first ever posting on this site, prompted by wanting to find out more about the incredibly bright comet i saw early this morning (approx 3am) over london.

I could not sleep so sat out on the balcony and was very moved by the site of this comet and glad someone else saw the same thing.

Any info much appreciated.

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sounds amazing. they really shock me when they are long lasting and bright - fantastic!

starry eyed - welcome to the group! first lesson on names. a comet is a slow moving (relative to the sky) ball of ice and rock that takes a long time to move across the sky. they are usually faint but sometimes bright.

a meteor is what you saw recently, a bright flash (or longer fast streak) across the sky and then gone. if they fall to earth, they are then meteorites but most are smaller than your hand and most of those are like a grain of rice and burn up in the atmosphere. a large share of meteors are actually the remnants of comets' tails and I think it's actually the earth turning that creates the apparent movement across the sky.

this is why we get regular showers at different times of the year.

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Thanks for the lesson, just never seen anything like it before other than shooting stars which were nothing in comparison to this meteor,and only really ever taken notice of the moon and its phases/effects (an interesting full moon tonight by all accounts).

Much incentive to keep my eyes open more, maybe even a telescope in the future but i guess thats a very big can of worms.

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Thanks for the lesson, just never seen anything like it before other than shooting stars which were nothing in comparison to this meteor,and only really ever taken notice of the moon and its phases/effects (an interesting full moon tonight by all accounts).

Much incentive to keep my eyes open more, maybe even a telescope in the future but i guess thats a very big can of worms.

ha ha - hope you realise my reference to lesson was made with my tongue firmly in my cheek :)

oooh, has the bug bitten you?? you'll never look back if it has :)

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02:58? Too late for me on a "School night". I was well snoring by that time. I was going to have a sess under the stars last night, but the lateness and the full moon put me off.

Wish I had done now. :)

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Hello all - just googled what I saw and stumbled upon your posts. Very informative...

I was bringing a boat back from Guernsey and saw this thing as I was alone on deck passing the Needles in the Western Solent just after 0300 this morning. It was pretty much running the reciprocal of our course, so going NE to SW at around 220 degrees.

I assumed at the time that it was Atlantis de-orbiting (or another hallucination - it was a long trip!), but they're still up there which led to here. The thing was just amazing - meteors (terminology noted), have always been fleeting experiences, just flashing along in the blink of an eye. This one had a huge flare behind it, going from horizon to horizon in about five seconds. Just stunning.

Thanks for confirming it wasn't a fatigue-induced trip...

S.

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What you saw my actually have been a BOLIDE.

Did it have red/green colouration ?

These are usually long lived, for a meteor that is, and break up at the end. Maybe it broke up over the horizon for southern Europe or Africa.

Eddie

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I will be setting the Nikon on the tripod with remote trigger in hand every time I go out in the garden from now on just in case

If you are quick enough to spot another one, race to the camera and open the shutter before it's gone, I'll buy you a beer...

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I was in the garden at that time. Believe it or not, I had a pair of binoculars and was looking at Jupiter.

The sight of a huge green flamed object cutting through the sky stunned me. Instinctively I tried to find it in the binoculars and caught it for a half a second before realizing I'd get a better view with my own eyes; I then watched it head south west; it was breaking up and had green flames trailing behind it.

All in all it took about eight seconds to come out of the NE and arc out of view behind houses to the SW.

Here in London, I've seen shooting stars, but nothing as big or bright or appreciable or awesome (ominous) as this. Immediately I wanted to know if anyone else saw it. I googled "green asteroid over London" but got nothing, until today.

I think it was a large object.

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Thanks all, Great feedback ! As i remember it did kind of breakup and almost crackle and fizz so maybe a Bolide.

Now inspired to get some bins, Strathspey 10x50 or 15x70, seem good quality and price but can't decide which any advice out there very much appreciated.

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  • 1 month later...

I have reported this fireball to SPA and would encourage others who saw it to do the same so that the event might be officially logged and possibly investigated further, With enough good-quality observations of the fireball's path through the sky, it may be possible to estimate its atmospheric flight, and even recover any surviving pieces.

go here to find out how http://www.popastro.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15296

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  • 2 months later...

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