I'll Never Get This Lucky Again

[The-MathMog]

I was out taking some shots last night, testing some different exposure times contra iso settings, just shooting at random parts of the sky. I set the camera for a 6400 ISO, 15 second exposure, and about halfway through the shot, a meteor (fireball) falls through the sky almost straight above me, covering about 50% the distance of the sky lasting around 2 seconds I think. It even showed fragments falling off of it and burning separately. Not quite big enough to be considered a bolide but still many times brighter than your usual shooting stars! 
Even seeing that with my eyes was astonishing, as it only counts like the 3rd fireball I've ever seen, but then I just prayed that my camera actually caught it, as it was pointing at the exact same part of the sky! And it did! Unfortunately without the part where the fragments fell of which happened left of the image..!

For some it might look like a simple image, or something similar as to when the space station covers the sky, but this was a biiig deal for me! And if you guys aren't impressed, then at least tell/show me some of your best visual stories or pictures you've captured!

Also the meteor burned with a slightly greenish glow, which some of you might be able to make guesses of its composition.

[Helen]

Great catch 

[Guest]

wow lucky shot. its a shame you didnt get the break up but still something amazing.

[Pete Presland]

That looks a super bright meteor. I have only managed to capture a few even when Imaging during a known shower!

[The-MathMog]

7 minutes ago, Dakaar said:

wow lucky shot. its a shame you didnt get the break up but still something amazing.

Yeah that would really have been the sprinkling on the cake! I've seen a few brighter meteors before, but this is the first one I've seen with actual fragmentation like that!

8 minutes ago, bunnygod1 said:

That looks a super bright meteor. I have only managed to capture a few even when Imaging during a known shower!

It really was! It is definitely among the 3-4 brightest meteors I've seen personally, and then actually catching most of it on the camera too, without even purposely trying to capture meteors haha...!

[Guest]

i had a similar experience the other day out with the scope. was looking at cassiopeia and looked away from the scope and up to the sky just at the right moment. dont think it was as good as yours but still one of those little wonders you feel privileged to see

edit: copper burns green. possible copper trace?

[The-MathMog]

20 minutes ago, Dakaar said:

i had a similar experience the other day out with the scope. was looking at cassiopeia and looked away from the scope and up to the sky just at the right moment. dont think it was as good as yours but still one of those little wonders you feel privileged to see

edit: copper burns green. possible copper trace?

Indeed! It definitely is one of my favorite experiences when that happens. It happens so fast, but is just jaw-dropping!

Might very well be. I also found that nickel would show as green? Hard to say when it is all from memory and that it consists of more than just one compound, but interesting nonetheless!  

[Pig]

There is also a very nice array of stars that add to this great capture  ..... Fantastic

[The-MathMog]

10 hours ago, Pig said:

There is also a very nice array of stars that add to this great capture  ..... Fantastic

Thank you very much!

Out of both curiosity on what part of the sky I had actually pictured and as a practice routine, I tried mapping out the stars it passed by. Constellations was quite hard to see because of how "equal" in brightness many of the stars had become under the "longer" exposure.

 

[LukeSkywatcher]

I'd agree. Its composition was most likely copper.

[Alien 13]

Good capture, I often have my camera out just on a fixed tripod taking multiple short exposures of a random bit of sky for an hour or two in the hope I might catch a "big one" but nothing major yet.

Alan

[John Baker]

love it, always nice to get this sort of accident

[gorann]

When I had closed down the obsy for the night about a year ago, I saw something similar. I remember green and purple light and a wider trail than I have ever seen, and a few seconds after it disappeared behind the roof of my house there was a thunder like sound. Obviously, it was rather low in the atmosphere and quite big (I assume it needs to be big to get that deep into the atmosphere before burning up). I checked local papers on the net next day but nothing, so most of these things probably go unnoticed. You have to be lucky just to see one, and capturing one with a camera is extreme luck, so congratulations!

[Nova2000]

Wow. Luck shot. I've never seen a fireball

Did you check your neighborhood for fragments? 

[The-MathMog]

Just now, Nova2000 said:

Wow. Luck shot. I've never seen a fireball

Did you check your neighborhood for fragments? 

Thanks a lot. I've only ever seen like two before this one too. Those were while out observing during peak meteor showers.

Hehe, that would be a very big area to search, as there is a forest out that way, and even a military-only area not accessible to the public  I guess some smart people could calculate the area where it would most like fall though.

But I did hear about other people in Denmark, who had found meteorites after a big fireball a few years back, banking a few hundred thousand pounds, so I guess I should just go for some casual walks either way  

[Hadron]

 Nice capture, to see a fireball is a memorable enough moment but to catch it on camera really is the icing on the cake. I've seen a few over the years and they never fail to give a buzz, I don't know about anyone else but despite the thrill of seeing something like that it always sends a shiver down my spine and makes my blood run cold. I can only assume it's something ingrained in to the human psyche that even knowing what it is there is the potential for them to both excite and unnerve at the same time   

[goodricke1]

On 04/03/2017 at 15:14, The-MathMog said:

But I did hear about other people in Denmark, who had found meteorites after a big fireball a few years back, banking a few hundred thousand pounds, so I guess I should just go for some casual walks either way  

As far as I know, the law in Denmark says that meteorites are state property and cannot be sold by the finder. So I'd say they're keeping pretty quiet about their business dealings

[Nova2000]

finders keepers!!! i better check my countrys law

[The-MathMog]

On 7/3/2017 at 14:00, goodricke1 said:

As far as I know, the law in Denmark says that meteorites are state property and cannot be sold by the finder. So I'd say they're keeping pretty quiet about their business dealings

I think you are right about that, and I might have just misspoken it. I believe it was a national museum that got hands on them, and it wasn't so much bought, as it was a "finder's fee"

[4th]

"Chance favours the prepared mind." - Louis Pasteur.