I Just saw Something Crazy

[Corkeyno2]

OK so about an hour ago I was on asking about how to gain good night vision. I went outside for about an hour and started to see hints of the milky way. It was then that I bright flash came across the sky and lasted for at least three seconds. It came over from behind my house, so I don't know how long it had been burning before I saw it. It was so big it was burning yellow and its trail across the sky was so bright it had a large affect on my night vision.

Is this normal? Whether it is or not, it still frightened the living hell out of me lol.

Thanks,

Corkey

[Paul73]

That sounds like a proper smoker of a fireball. You don't see them that often and they sure do make you jump!

Good spot. Savour the memory. You don't see those every day. Although stargazers see more than most "normal" people because we spend more time looking up!?

Paul

[Corkeyno2]

Just now, Paul73 said:

That sounds like a proper smoker of a fireball. You don't see them that often and they sure do make you jump!

Good spot. Savour the memory. You don't see those every day. Although stargazers see more than most "normal" people because we spend more time looking up!?

Paul

Cool. I guess most people don't realise how cool space really is.

[Yamez]

I was out with the scope, changing my eyepiece and then a huge white flash caught my eye, didn't quite catch what it was but must have been a fireball. I will never forget how much that made me jump.

[Charic]

Another very bright flash often seen in the sky is Sun light reflected from the panels of the Iridium Satelite network ( infact anything up there that is capable of reflecting sunlight as they pass overhead)  This link gives a little more info, though the animation does not really show how intense the flash is, from the many I have seen.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_flare

 

[Paul73]

Good link for the satalite flares! The OP's observation of smoke would suggest an object burning up on entering the atmosphere (hopefully not a working satalite...........)

Paul

[Dave In Vermont]

If you'd like to know where these Iridium satellites are - and many of others as well (including the International Space-Station) - so you know when & where to watch for them, here's a free program you can download:

https://sourceforge.net/projects/previsat/

There are many other satellite-tracker's available, but Previsat is my favorite.

Enjoy!

Dave

[Ben the Ignorant]

8 hours ago, Corkeyno2 said:

I went outside for about an hour and started to see hints of the milky way. It was then that I bright flash came across the sky and lasted for at least three seconds. It came over from behind my house, so I don't know how long it had been burning before I saw it. It was so big it was burning yellow and its trail across the sky was so bright it had a large affect on my night vision.

It's no coincidence if it happened when you had decided to go out and take your first serious look at the night sky; nature planned it to get you hooked on stargazing.

[ollypenrice]

It may well be the best you ever see. It sounds like a good one. I'm out a great deal all night and have only seen one that was in an entirely different class to 'the best of the rest.' It was a bolide, so it broke into fragments and blazed in brilliant red and blue light. I'm in SE France and another SGL member was in the desert south of Beirut. He saw it as well through the windsreen of a vehicle. Fortunately I was with a few others at the time and the collective yell that we let out was probably heard in Paris!

Olly

[Corkeyno2]

3 hours ago, Ben the Ignorant said:

It's no coincidence if it happened when you had decided to go out and take your first serious look at the night sky; nature planned it to get you hooked on stargazing.

lol