[meteorite-list] Perhaps another fall??

From: Robert Woolard <meteoritefinder_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:24:11 -0800 (PST)
Message-ID: <490358.81548.qm_at_web39603.mail.mud.yahoo.com>

List,

I don't know if any of you found the posting I made the other day about the possible CA fall interesting or not, but if so, here is a report on perhaps yet another ( ??? ) on the other side of the USA.

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NEW ENGLAND FIREBALL: Last night, Dec. 29th at 9:30 p.m. EST, sky watchers in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey witnessed a magnitude -9 fireball that exploded colorfully in mid-flight. No one knows if fragments of the meteoroid reached the ground.

Location: North Bay Shore, New York
Comments: Dan Linek: "At approximately 2130 EST, I was sitting in a car and noticed a quick bright light right in front of my eyes. It took me a couple of seconds to realize I had just seen the brightest meteor of my life. It came out of the eastern sky heading to the north about 20-30 degrees above the horizon near the constellation Cancer. It was a bright blue color with a hint of green and lasted about a half second to a full second. In that short time, it seemed as though there were a few pieces falling right below it but I do not think anything reached the ground. I estimate it was about a -9 magnitude based on -8 magnitude Iridium Satellite Flares I have seen."

Location: New Hampshire
Comments: Joe Hanley: "I was driving due south on Route 93 in southern New Hampshire at 9:30 p.m. EST when my wife Mary and I saw what appeared to be a low and very bright shooting star flying across the sky from the east towards the west. We were amazed at the how low, bright and extended it was when it then burst into colorful pieces, leaving a very quick and multi-colored trail."

Location: Roslyn, New York
Comments: Bernadette of Glen Cove, New York: "Tonight at 9:30 pm EST my husband and I were driving east on the expressway in the town of Roslyn, NY. We couldn't help but see the brightest meteor! I am sure it lasted more than 7 seconds. It was very bright with a long tail. I feel I saw an orange color as well. This certainly makes up for all those nights I have stared into the sky hoping to see something an felt disappointed."

Location: Cummington, Massachusetts
Comments: Steve Sauter: "I was driving East on Rte. 9 in Cummington, Ma. on 12/29. My daughter and her fiance were in the south passenger seats when both yelled, fireworks, whoa! Sparks, a tail! They then described a huge kelly green ball of sparks, "falling straight to the ground with a tail of green sparks stretching up and to the left (east). Extremely bright, large. This should mean a landing around Windsor, Ma."

Location: Mansfield, Massachusetts
Comments: Andy Stearns: "Wow! At approximately 9:30PM local time I witnessed a very bright fireball against a clear starlit sky. It initially appeared between 45? and 60? above the southern horizon and approximately 90? above the eastern horizon. It was traveling west. Unfortunately, my house obstructed my view at about 45? on the western horizon. The core of the fireball was distinctly green with a very bright white trail. There may have been some blue fringes. Although the view became obstructed by my house, there was about 2 seconds where the western sky was illuminated by the meteor's travel west. This illumination was terminated by a green flash that lit up the entire western quadrant of the sky. My impression was that the fireball exploded, but unfortunately, I could not witness any fragmenting or the actual explosion due to my obstruction. From first observation until the explosion was about 4 seconds (no more than 5). I've witnessed thousands
 of meteors over my 43 year lifetime including 1 meteor burst several years ago (which was brilliant white). This ranks #1 to me due to the intensity of the light, the brilliant green color, and the green flash it produced over the western horizon."

Location: Perry Hall, Maryland
Comments: Dan Dutrow: "While driving home tonight around 9:30 PM, I saw something I've never seen before. While headed North in Perry Hall, Maryland on I-95, I witnessed a green flash of light rapidly falling away from me to the east. It was either a rocket hurling towards Best Buy or a meteor flying North over Perry Hall and into the horizon, hopefully the latter."

Location: Bangor, Maine.
Comments: Edward W. Gould: "Last night, I was in my backyard with one of our dogs, when I saw a bright flash out of the corner of my eye. It lasted long enough for me to turn and catch a glimpse of it as it shot low across the southern sky traveling from east to west. It was a bright green ball with a long tail. What struck me was both how bright it was and how low in the sky it was, just visible above the tree and house lines. I thanked my dog for having to go out to give me the opportunity to see it!"

Location: Maine
Comments: Nicole Ricci: "I live in a very small town in Southern Maine and went out around 9:30pm to let my dog out and saw a orange ball fall from the sky."

Location: Sunderland, Massachusetts
Comments: Kris Moriarty: "My daughters and I were on our way home at 9:30 pm last night when we saw a greenish oblong shaped fireball in the sky. It was shooting down & had a fiery orange tail. It then seemed to break apart as it came down. We were driving on route 47 south in Sunderland, Ma. It was so neat!!! Thanks for letting us know we weren't crazy & weren?t the only ones who witnessed such a spectacular event!"

Location: Coyle Field, Chatsworth, New Jersey
Comments: Jim Mack, Willingboro Astronomical Society: "There were a number of observers at Coyle field last night and you either saw the fire ball or saw the bright light from it. After reading your article on the New England Fireball I put together the night's events which leads me to beleive what we saw was the same Fireball! While observing M42 thru my friend Mitch's new 24" StarMaster we saw the Fireball looking towards the North East everything lit up. Shortly afterward we packed up as clouds came in and went home. When I was leaving, the clock in my car said 10:10."

Location: Monson, Maine
Comments: Eric B Smith: "Was on my computer Monday evening and saw the fireball out the window seeming to come from ENE to WSW. Very bright. By the time I got outside it was gone."

Location: Belmont, MA
Comment: Alison Anderson: "I was sitting indoors at my computer, in front of a window, and saw a bright and large ball flash across the sky at 9:30 pm. It went from SSE to S before my view was blocked by a neighboring house. The fireball was bright white, brighter than the moon (I could see it through my window, despite reflections of indoor lighting), and its size was about a quarter of a full moon. My viewing was very brief, perhaps only one or two seconds."

Location: Boxford, MA
Comments: Paul Siebols: "I was outside and already looking at the constellation Orion when I saw an orange streak heading approximately SW. After a momentary fade, it brightened intensely. I did not see disintegration from my vantage point because of trees, but the fireball origin was approximately in the Monoceros or Lepus area between Sirius and Orion's Belt. It was a beautiful sight to witness, and among the brightest I have seen."


 






      
Received on Tue 30 Dec 2008 02:24:11 PM PST