[meteorite-list] re: Satellite Reentry Witness 4

From: GeoZay_at_aol.com <GeoZay_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Fri Jun 9 00:07:17 2006
Message-ID: <4a2.28761af.31b9fc13_at_aol.com>

 

>>Kevin wrote:
> The thing I saw, was comparable to an aircraft at a distance. But did not
> traverse the entire sky, it was perhaps only 10-20 degrees parallel to the
> horizon, it didn't move or cover much more than the general direction of
> looking to the North.<<

Marco>>Now, indeed with a 20 second duration this DOES sound like a
satellite decay for
a change. :-)<<
I personally have never heard of anyone reporting a re entering satellite
that lasted only 20 seconds. But I have heard of meteors lasting well over 20
seconds before extinguishment (such as the 1972 Grand Teton around 101 seconds
and the Peekskill Fireball lasting 40 seconds). Low on the horizon, a
meteor can appear slower than at the zenith due to the further distance involved.
It can also appear even slower if the meteor was traveling in a direction
that was slightly heading either toward or away from an observer rather than
from a true left to right (or right to left :O)). If this was a satellite that
lasted only 20 seconds before burning up...it will be the first for me to hear
of such a case. Until the short 20 second life span can be explained, my
money is still on a meteor. I wonder what month this occurred?
George Zay



 
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Received on Thu 08 Jun 2006 06:17:55 PM PDT