[meteorite-list] Hundreds Report Burning Meteor Over Australia

From: Ron Baalke <baalke_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:16:30 2004
Message-ID: <200308071535.IAA13611_at_zagami.jpl.nasa.gov>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s919114.htm

Hundreds report burning meteor
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
August 7, 2003

Astronomers say it is unlikely the remnants of a blazing meteor seen by
hundreds of people last night have landed on earth.

The Perth Observatory was flooded with hundreds of phone calls from residents in
the Goldfields, wheatbelt, and Great Southern when the meteor appeared about
6:20pm AWST yesterday.

Astronomer Peter Birch says they reported a bright light with a long tail
lasting between five and 10 seconds.

He says the meteor would have completely vapourised 100 kilometres from
the ground as it entered the earth's atmosphere.

"It would have only been the size something like...a football at maximum,
maybe only the size of a cricket ball," he said.

"But it's come in at such speed that it's actually burnt up in the atmosphere,
it's got very hot, and it's vapourised, and when these things happen, they
get very bright and people can see them from a long way."
Received on Thu 07 Aug 2003 11:35:07 AM PDT