Shooting star

[nexus21]

While observing M42 lastnight I was amazed to see a shooting star pass just under nebular. This was the first time i have seen a meteoroid EVER.

Based on I was using a 25mm EP (60x) it looked like a very bright star. How big would you say this was?

Andrew

[nexus21]

Just a quick update. Had a look at stellarium and rolled the clock back and it looks like it was a satellite Cosmos 1833. Even so still amazing.

[Neil McRae]

If you want to observe the ISS then use "Heavens Above" site for predictions in yoyr area

Neil

[Ad Astra]

Hi Andrew!

Meteors are awesome! You can see 6-10 per hour from almost any dark site, although we do get an uptick in the average number per hour after midnight, when you are observing in the direction that the Earth is traveling in space Think of looking out the front windscreen while driving a car... meteors are the bugs splattering themselves on our atmospheric 'window'! It doesn't take much to make a meteor as bright as a bright star like Sirius - perhaps 50-100 grams of material.

Dan