[meteorite-list] More on that other Fireball - in Arizona

From: Robert Verish <bolidechaser_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:21:05 2004
Message-ID: <20030717015410.65809.qmail_at_web80502.mail.yahoo.com>

-------------- More Forward Messages ----------------

Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 17:23:16 -0600
From: "Jim Gamble" <jagamble_at_sbcglobal.net>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

All,
  I've added a small Quicktime movie to the web page.
This is from a videotape as seen from the El Paso all
sky camera. The image will be flipped so West is to
the right. North is up. The meteor can be seen through
the branches of the tree which appears in the upper
right (NW) portion of the image. Go to

http://www.geocities.com/desert_lights/gila.html

and click on the link below the still image.
Regards,
Jim Gamble
El Paso, Tx Station-Sandia Meteor Detection Network
All Sky Camera System
31.47.7.822N 106.18.18.770W
jagamble_at_sbcglobal.net
http://www.geocities.com/desert_lights

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Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 20:29:56 EDT
From: GeoZay_at_aol.com
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

In a message dated 7/15/03 4:09:02 PM Pacific Daylight
Time,
mirage_at_gilanet.com writes:


> >>As to any noise just before...well there is a lot
of thunder around here because of the monsoons...I
may have heard something but if I did I would simply
have thought it to be thunder.<<


The fact that it seemed to be about half way up from
the horizon to the zenith, tells me that at that
moment, it was probably relatively distant....perhaps
over 50 miles. Since you didn't hear any loud sonic
boom, it also tells me that it wasn't really that
close to you....that it was still at least 15 miles
or more above the earth....perhaps over 30 miles? I
think if it was really below the clouds, you would
hear an unmistakable loud boom....much like that made
by a close lightning bolt.
My opinion is that you either saw a relatively bright
meteor over -6 magnitude thru some relatively thin
clouds...or you saw a relatively bright meteor over -6
magnitude that was distant and high up, with clouds in
the foreground or above you. The alignment was such
that it appeared below the clouds, but wasn't really.
In this case, there were relatively clear skies below
the meteor, but cloudy above you. In either case, I
suspect the meteoroid experienced total burn up with
nothing but dust reaching the ground.
George Zay

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Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 21:56:09 -0600
From: "Jill and Nevyn" <mirage_at_gilanet.com>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

Hi Jim:

Just wanted to thank you for the pics.
Jill and I have the one from June 8th...they sure look
similar in terms of travel direction..

Nev

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 17:45:23 +0930
From: Tony Beresford <dberesford_at_adam.com.au>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

At 04:43 16/07/03, you wrote:
>It was about half way between overhead and horizon.
>
>Nevyn

Based on this estimate and the measurement quoted on
the elpaso image, a rough ( flat Earth geometry)
suggests an altitude around 30km, or 20 miles. just on
the edge of the height range quoted for sustaining
a sonic boom. range about 28 miles so any sound would
be some 3.5 minutes after event.
To show so clearly thru clouds, i think it must have
been mag -10 or -11. The infrasonics should have
registered on Los Alamos's detectors, I would have
thought...
probably takes a few days
for information like that to come out.
Tony Beresford

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 08:45:48 EDT
From: GeoZay_at_aol.com
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

I forgot my last message to add this....

Nevyn, I think most likely the meteor you seen was a
member of the alpha Capricornids. They are active now
and often produce spectacular fireballs. They always
seem to get peoples attention. I think it's because
they are bright and somewhat slow.
People get a chance to dwell on them.
The radiant becomes active just before dark. If it was
a alpha Capricornid, it's of comet origin. This means
don't expect any meteorites to reach the ground. The
material is basically too fragile to survive complete
atmospheric passage.
George Zay

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:57:54 -0600
From: "Jill and Nevyn" <mirage_at_gilanet.com>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

Hi George:

Thank's for the information. Jill and I know nothing
about any of this..We just seem to be in the right
place at the right time.

Nev

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 09:42:15 -0400
From: "Paul Jones" <jonesp0854_at_hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: (meteorobs) Fire Ball over the Gila

Hi Nev and all,
    I can second Kim's belief that two such events so
close together are very rare indeed. In my almost
thirty years (and countless hundreds of hours) of
serious observing, I have had only three fireball
events that even remotely approach yours. Oddly
enough, two of the three were in my first year of
observing (1974).
The second of those two events even closely resembled
the conditions you describe for your sightings.
Recalling what I saw that year brings to mind a few
thoughts and comments I wanted to share with you.
I saw this fireball on the evening of 16/17 Nov 1974
(right about midnight) and it was an Earth-grazing
Leonid about -6 in magnitude. I saw it through thick,
pea-soup Florida ground fog that created an effect I
have never seen repeated by any clear sky fireball
event. The fog created virtual "overcast" conditions
as no stars were visible at the moment of the event.
It covered almost the entire sky in a skipping motion.
 Each flare of brightness lit up the fog and created
an appearance that made me want to duck. It seemed
like the fireball was about ten feet over my head!
The fact that no stars were visible for reference,
made the fireball seem so much lower and closer than
it actually was. I've never seen a clear sky fireball
look like that. Since I was a new, inexperienced
observer at the time, my emotional reaction was
probably far greater than it would have been with
several years of observing under my belt. But it sure
was awesome, as I'm sure yours were, too. Hopefully,
these events will peak your continued interest in
meteor observing and many more enjoyable memories
under the stars.

Regards, Paul in Florida

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Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 06:52:29 -0700 (PDT)
From: Thomas Dorman <drygulch_99_at_yahoo.com>
Subject: (meteorobs) Green meteor

Hi.All
The night of the Gila fireball 7/14/03 there was a
second green fireball over far west Texas. At 12:12am
mst,06:12UT 7/15/03 I observed a green fireball moving
from south to north at moderate speed. The fireball
was
-4 or brighter.The bightness was not the most
impressive feature of this meteor. The debris coming
from the head of the fireball was very dense and
sparkling.Also the terminal burst was was bright and
had debris traveling down range from the burst. I
believe I would call this a WOW! event. My best guess
is that the event was about 30 degress in length.
I have one person I am talking to in El Paso who
observed a pale green meteor near my event time but
moving south.I have ask this person to fill out a
fireball report.The El Paso All Sky was off line at
the time of this meteor event.
I have a report from early this morning of another
green meteor.
Do not believe the activity seen over far west Texas
and the Gila in New Mexico is connected to
Capricornids.
I am waiting to hear from New Mexico State University
to see if they may have recorded this event.Hope this
is of interest.
Regards
Horzion City Texas

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End of meteorobs-digest V4 #1186
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Received on Wed 16 Jul 2003 09:54:10 PM PDT