[meteorite-list] Second Fireball Burns Through Sky - ABQ Journal

From: Matt Morgan <mmorgan_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:27:53 2004
Message-ID: <3FC389E5.5010600_at_mhmeteorites.com>

Second Fireball Burns Through Sky

By John Fleck
Journal Staff Writer
     Another bright fireball streaked through the Albuquerque skies
Sunday morning, caught on a Sandia National Laboratories research camera.
     Sunday's fireball was likely brighter than one that attracted
widespread attention Thursday evening as it streaked south-southwest of
Albuquerque. But because it came at 3:52 a.m., when few people are up,
there were no eyewitness reports, said Sandia meteor researcher Dick
Spalding.
     While Thursday's event was difficult to see because of light from
the setting sun, Sunday's was easily visible on Spalding's video.
     "It was good and dark then," he said.
     Spalding is awaiting more data to determine whether Sunday
morning's event was a space rock or something else, such as space
debris, burning up in Earth's atmosphere.
     Spalding heads a group of researchers that runs a network of
all-sky digital cameras that run day and night, hoping to catch the
streak of light caused by a meteor or space debris as it enters Earth's
atmosphere.
     Even daytime meteors can be visible if they are bright enough,
Spalding said.
     By reviewing the video and calculating the path of an object from
the different vantage points of multiple cameras, the scientists can
determine the object's path through Earth's atmosphere.
     The unique network currently has more than 20 cameras, Spalding
said, including installations in Canada, the Pacific Northwest,
Albuquerque, Las Cruces and El Paso.
     Eyewitness reports suggest Thursday's event was high in Earth's
atmosphere and far from Albuquerque, despite initial reports that the
meteor might have come down near Rio Rancho. Spalding is investigating
eyewitness reports from Grants and the Las Cruces area.
Received on Tue 25 Nov 2003 11:57:09 AM PST