[meteorite-list] Cheshire, England Sky Lights Considered A Meteor

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:41:12 2004
Message-ID: <200102252201.OAA14764_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

Cheshire, England Sky Lights Considered A Meteor
Warrington Guardian (Cheshire, England)
February 23, 2001

An astronomer has stepped in to confirm sightings of a meteor seen in
Latchford last week.

Ian Phelps, planetary section director of the Society for Popular Astronomy
contacted the Guardian to back up Graham Hickey's story of a burning bright
light heading towards earth.

Ian said: "As a much experienced amateur astronomer, I can verify that the
object Graham Hickey observed was in fact an extremely bright meteor. The
evidence is very indicative of what are commonly called 'shooting stars'. He
was lucky to see one so bright but nonetheless that is what he saw."

Ian explains that meteors range in size from a grain of sand to something
the size of a tennis ball. The majority of them burn up in the atmosphere
and produce the image of a bright streak of light moving at great speed
through the night sky. The friction caused by the object as it plunges
through the atmosphere makes it glow.

And Ian wasn't the only one to have witnessed the celestial sight, other
readers have been in touch to say that they too spotted the meteor.
Received on Sun 25 Feb 2001 05:01:46 PM PST