[meteorite-list] Addendum on UK fireball

From: Martin Goff <msgmeteorites_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 22:37:23 +0100
Message-ID: <CAKEL=tBvB8bWoELFfKUdJbCXA38sg6e7FVsXVj4b5cXzC_HAnQ_at_mail.gmail.com>

Rob,

I am by no means an experienced observer but I have been back today to
where I watched the fireball and can confirm the following:

Location - (not got GPS co ordinates but exact address I was at was
122 Broadway, Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire, UK

Start point - 25 degrees elevation, 90 degrees azimuth

End point - 20 degrees elevation, 290 degrees azimuth

Visible between 35 and 40 secs

Am keeping my fingers crossed!

Cheers

Martin

On 22/09/2012, Rob Matson <mojave_meteorites at cox.net> wrote:
> Also -- the video from Dalbeattie, UK, showing the bolide fairly low
> on the horizon moving left to right and nearly parallel to the horizon
> confirms the shallow entry angle, the east-to-west motion, and suggests
> that the ground track was much closer to Manchester & Liverpool than it
> was to Dalbeattie. I believe the bolide traveled over the southern tip
> of the Isle of Man, with perhaps a 10-15 degree northern component to the
> trajectory (i.e. ESE to WNW toward bearing 280-285 deg) and ended up
> somewhere south of Belfast. I'll keep pouring over the witness reports
> to see if I can firm that up any. --Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Matson [mailto:mojave_meteorites at cox.net]
> Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 1:59 PM
> To: Martin Goff; Alexander Seidel
> Cc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com
> Subject: RE: [meteorite-list] Large UK fireball!
>
>
> It would help to know the orientation of his camera. He mentions that
> the camera points nearly to zenith, with a slight tilt westward
> toward Belfast, but he doesn't mention which direction "down" points
> to (north, south, east, west, etc.)
>
> In any case, the very shallow entry angle of the bolide coupled with
> the roughly east-to-west trajectory and the high elevation angle
> from Bangor distinctly increases the probability that some if not
> most of the meteoroid traversed the Irish Sea and made landfall in
> Northern Ireland! If the bottom of the video faces south, then
> the fall location would be somewhere southwest of Bangor. Given
> that the ground track is known to have been north of Liverpool
> and Manchester (going right-to-left as seen from those cities),
> and observation from Newcastle would be very helpful in pinning
> down the fall zone. --Rob
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com]On Behalf Of Martin
> Goff
> Sent: Saturday, September 22, 2012 3:29 AM
> To: Alexander Seidel
> Cc: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com; ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Large UK fireball!
>
>
> Another video here
>
> http://m.youtube.com/#/user/meteorlog?desktop_uri=%2Fuser%2Fmeteorlog&gl=GB
>
> On 22/09/2012, Martin Goff <msgmeteorites at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Thankyou Alex, I do feel blessed to have seen it from start to finish
>> and from such a clear viewpoint as where I was, simply stunning :-)
>> Would be even better to have a rock in the collection from an event
>> such as this where you witnessed it yourself! However my hopes are low
>> as I think the 'somewhere' is going to be in the sea :-( I really
>> hope I am wrong though :-)
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Martin
>>
>> On 22/09/2012, Alexander Seidel <gsac at gmx.net> wrote:
>>> Congrats, Martin, for being in the right place at the right time! Must
>>> have
>>> been a gorgeous sighting, just like winning the lottery. As Rob already
>>> pointed out, seeing this going west it unlikely will or could have been
>>> a
>>> decaying satellite, as almost all of those are heading eastwards
>>> somehow,
>>> along with earth rotation direction, so what you saw was a spectacular
>>> fireball most likely originating from "the real stuff" ....
>>>
>>> Did it drop something to Earth somewhere, and where is that "somewhere"?
>>> :-)
>>>
>>> Alex
>>> Berlin/Germany
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> -------- Original-Nachricht --------
>>>> Datum: Sat, 22 Sep 2012 01:09:30 +0100
>>>> Von: Martin Goff <msgmeteorites at gmail.com>
>>>> An: Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com>
>>>> CC: "meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com"
>>>> <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>, "Matson, Robert D."
>>>> <ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com>
>>>> Betreff: Re: [meteorite-list] Large UK fireball!
>>>
>>>> Mike, It was absolutely stunning! Am just amazed that i saw it as i
>>>> was on patrol in my vehicle. Right place, right time for once!
>>>>
>>>> Unfortunately it appears that it will have dropped anything into the
>>>> sea
>>>> :-(
>>>>
>>>> Fingers crossed for otherwise though, you never know :-)
>>>>
>>>> Am a very happy chappy :-)
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>>
>>>> Martin
>>>>
>>>> On 22/09/2012, Michael Farmer <mike at meteoriteguy.com> wrote:
>>>> > wow, that would have been incredible to see in person!
>>>> >
>>>> > Michael Farmer
>>>> >
>>>> > Sent from my iPad
>>>> >
>>>> > On Sep 21, 2012, at 4:54 PM, "Matson, Robert D."
>>>> <ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com>
>>>> > wrote:
>>>> >
>>>> >> Hi Martin,
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Given the east-to-west direction, space junk is extremely unlikely.
>>>> >> (Very few manmade objects in such retrograde orbits.)
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Unfortunately, from your description it sounds like it most likely
>>>> >> ended up going over Southport into the Irish Sea southeast of the
>>>> >> Isle of Man. Your location is less than 60 km from the coast.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> --Rob
>>>> >>
>>>> >> -----Original Message-----
>>>> >> From: meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com
>>>> >> [mailto:meteorite-list-bounces at meteoritecentral.com] On Behalf Of
>>>> Martin
>>>> >> Goff
>>>> >> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2012 4:44 PM
>>>> >> To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
>>>> >> Subject: [meteorite-list] Large UK fireball!
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Hi all,
>>>> >>
>>>> >> I have just been exceedingly fortunate to view a large fragmenting
>>>> >> fireball over the UK. Absolutely amazing sight! Looked so similar to
>>>> >> Peekskill with lots of fragmentation. Am unfortunately at work all
>>>> night
>>>> >> so unable to further research it but already there are numerous
>>>> >> reports
>>>> >> and sightings. A video of the event has been found here:
>>>> >>
>>>> >> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df89jhMjLXY)
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Might be space junk? The fireball had a definite greenish tinge at
>>>> >> the
>>>> >> beginning.
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Going east to west. from the A627 in Chadderton, Oldham, Lancashire.
>>>> >> Startpoint 25 degrees altitude, 90 degrees azimuth. Endpoint 20
>>>> >> degrees
>>>> >> altitude, 290 degrees azimuth. visible for 40 seconds at 22:55hrs
>>>> >> 21/9/12. Went from green to orange to yellow with lots of
>>>> fragmentation.
>>>> >> Am still gobsmacked that i saw it!!!! Hopefully it will have dropped
>>>> >> some meteorites and hopefully not into the sea!
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Anyway back to work now :-(
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Cheers
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Martin
>>>> >> --
>>>> >> Martin Goff
>>>> >> www.msg-meteorites.co.uk
>>>> >> IMCA #3387
>>>> >> ______________________________________________
>>>> >>
>>>> >> Visit the Archives at
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>>>> >
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Martin Goff
>>>> www.msg-meteorites.co.uk
>>>> IMCA #3387
>>>> ______________________________________________
>>>>
>>>> Visit the Archives at
>>>> http://www.meteoritecentral.com/mailing-list-archives.html
>>>> Meteorite-list mailing list
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>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Martin Goff
>> www.msg-meteorites.co.uk
>> IMCA #3387
>>
>
>
> --
> Martin Goff
> www.msg-meteorites.co.uk
> IMCA #3387
> ______________________________________________
>
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-- 
Martin Goff
www.msg-meteorites.co.uk
IMCA #3387

Received on Sat 22 Sep 2012 05:37:23 PM PDT