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Meteors & Meteoric Fireballs (Observed Aloft)

Just how dim are the people of Morecambe? Did the palette of potential options include “The gods are angry!” or “The dragon has awoken!” ?

Mysterious 'rock on fire' spotted in skies over Morecambe: experts rule out custard.”

:rofl:

maximus otter


They were stating the obvious?
 
Just how dim are the people of Morecambe? Did the palette of potential options include “The gods are angry!” or “The dragon has awoken!” ?

Mysterious 'rock on fire' spotted in skies over Morecambe: experts rule out custard.”

:rofl:

maximus otter
So not creme brulee then?
 
I observed what appeared to be a large meteor over Edinburgh today at about 1pm. I’ve never seen the like before - moving very fast with a clear tail behind it. I was wondering if anyone else saw or heard reports of this?
 
I observed what appeared to be a large meteor over Edinburgh today at about 1pm. I’ve never seen the like before - moving very fast with a clear tail behind it. I was wondering if anyone else saw or heard reports of this?
Wow, that sounds interesting. What did you see exactly? Was the sky clear or cloudy? What sort of direction was it travelling in?
 
Wow, that sounds interesting. What did you see exactly? Was the sky clear or cloudy? What sort of direction was it travelling in?

As if something was entering the atmosphere at speed; the ‘tail’ was prominent and fanned out behind the object, pretty much how I would expect a meteor to look. The weather was bright and sunny, and the object was clearly travelling fast relative to the sun, appearing to burn out/diminish after a minute or two - the glare from the sun made it difficult to tell. I was near the Meadows and it was in the sky to the south. It was very clear for at least a few minutes and would have seemed quite uncanny to anyone looking. I’ve not seen any reports of it though.
 
As if something was entering the atmosphere at speed; the ‘tail’ was prominent and fanned out behind the object, pretty much how I would expect a meteor to look. The weather was bright and sunny, and the object was clearly travelling fast relative to the sun, appearing to burn out/diminish after a minute or two - the glare from the sun made it difficult to tell. I was near the Meadows and it was in the sky to the south. It was very clear for at least a few minutes and would have seemed quite uncanny to anyone looking. I’ve not seen any reports of it though.
That sounds really cool. I wonder if it was because it was in the daytime so you really had to be looking at that part of the sky to have seen it. Have you tried getting in touch with the Royal Observatory or the Astronomical Society? They are probably mainly looking at night themselves but I am sure they would be interested in your report and may have had others. If you do get in touch or find anything out from elsewhere, please do post back here with what you find. :)

https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/

https://www.roe.ac.uk/

(Though just as a note of caution, are you sure it couldn't have been an aircraft contrail?)
 
We seem to be having a number of bangs flashes and objects spotted at the mo,
maybe passing through a patch of them, worth keeping a eye and ear out.
 
That sounds really cool. I wonder if it was because it was in the daytime so you really had to be looking at that part of the sky to have seen it. Have you tried getting in touch with the Royal Observatory or the Astronomical Society? They are probably mainly looking at night themselves but I am sure they would be interested in your report and may have had others. If you do get in touch or find anything out from elsewhere, please do post back here with what you find. :)

https://www.astronomyedinburgh.org/

https://www.roe.ac.uk/

(Though just as a note of caution, are you sure it couldn't have been an aircraft contrail?)

I’m pretty sure it wasn’t aircraft related as it was completely unlike anything I’ve observed before.

Thanks for those links. I’m pretty busy with a new job but will follow it up when I get the chance.
 
Fireballs last seconds, not minutes. Sometimes a large meteor, known as a bolide, leaves a long-lasting trail, like an aircraft trail but probably about ten times higher off the ground. Of course you can't really tell the height just by observing it from a single location.

I suspect this may have been an aircraft contrail after all, but it could have been a meteor contrail.
 
Here's the great daylight fireball of 1972; the meteor is visible for about 19 seconds, although the vapour trail lasts a lot longer. Remember meteors are travelling as anything from 17 kilometres/sec to 40 km/s or more, so they don't hang about.

 
Fireballs last seconds, not minutes. Sometimes a large meteor, known as a bolide, leaves a long-lasting trail, like an aircraft trail but probably about ten times higher off the ground. Of course you can't really tell the height just by observing it from a single location.

I suspect this may have been an aircraft contrail after all, but it could have been a meteor contrail.

I wish I had taken a photo now. I’ve been searching for images that correspond with what I saw without much success, the closest in shape being a comet. There was certainly no fireball aspect visible but it did seem to burn up in the sense of reducing
 
Here's the great daylight fireball of 1972; the meteor is visible for about 19 seconds, although the vapour trail lasts a lot longer. Remember meteors are travelling as anything from 17 kilometres/sec to 40 km/s or more, so they don't hang about.


What's the theory with this one - disintegrated in the atmosphere or hit ground?
 
Wow - must be a rarity to catch on film. Any estimate as to what sort of size it was?

... Analysis of its appearance and trajectory showed the object was about 3–14 m (10–45 ft) in diameter, depending on whether it was a comet made of ice or a stony and therefore denser asteroid ...

In 1994, Czech astronomer Zdeněk Ceplecha reanalysed the data and suggested the passage would have reduced the asteroid's mass to about a third or half of its original mass (reducing its diameter to 2–10 metres (6.6–32.8 ft)). ...

The object was tracked by military surveillance systems and sufficient data obtained to determine its orbit both before and after its 100-second passage through Earth's atmosphere. Its velocity was reduced by about 800 metres per second (2,600 ft/s) and the encounter significantly changed its orbital inclination from 15 degrees to 7 degrees. ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_Great_Daylight_Fireball
 
This sighting in Edinburgh happened on a different day, but it seems similar in many ways.
https://www.edinburghlive.co.uk/news/edinburgh-news/mystery-flaming-object-spotted-flying-18276679

However, expert astronomers, who viewed footage of the event, suggested it could have been a satellite or other re-entry of a man-made object into the atmosphere - or even a fireball.
0_Screen-Shot-2020-05-16-at-162004.png

I dunno - this single image looks an awful lot like a contrail to me.
 
About 6 pm yesterday a bright orange ball with a glowing trail,
passed over Morecambe bay going North at very high speed,
didn't hear anything but saw it out of the window, meteorite
was the first thought.
Nothing in the media or on the local face ache.
 
Fireball lights up the early morning sky over Canadian province

A fireball that was caught on camera lighting up the early morning sky over Alberta, Canada, was a particularly bright meteor, experts said.

The fireball was caught on security cameras and other videos about 6:30 a.m. Monday in the sky over the Calgary area. ...

Sightings were also reported in Edmonton and Saskatchewan. ...

It was unclear whether any pieces of the meteor made landfall or whether the entire object burned up on entry.
FULL STORY: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2021/02/23/canada-Alberta-fireball-bright-meteor/9311614109543/
 
Meteor in the UK, 21.55 28/2/2021.
I didn't see it, but I heard about it on Facebook within a few minutes. Lovely clear sky last night, full moon too - this must have been a bright one.

EvWOsBcWYAEiZ2O.jpg
 
I posted this on the other meteor thread bu i think it should be here:

About 17 years ago i was cycling to work at about 5:45 am, i heard a roaring sound coming from above me and looked up to see, what i can only guess, was a meteor streaking above me, i watched it until it disappeared over the horizon, if it landed i have no idea where.
 
The fact that you heard a roaring sound first is interesting, because sound travels much slower than light, so you should have seen it first. The Chelyabinsk meteor, for instance, was seen a good twenty seconds before it was heard. Nevertheless, lots of people report hearing a sound at the same time as the visual sighting, so you are not alone.
 
The fact that you heard a roaring sound first is interesting, because sound travels much slower than light, so you should have seen it first. The Chelyabinsk meteor, for instance, was seen a good twenty seconds before it was heard. Nevertheless, lots of people report hearing a sound at the same time as the visual sighting, so you are not alone.
It was coming from behind me travelling in the same direction as i was cycling, it wasnt until it was almost directly above my head that i noticed the sound and looked up, noticing the 'meteor' streaking across the sky.
 
The 'real' sound should have reached you much later, maybe twenty seconds after the meteor had passed. You probably would not have associated it with the meteor.

But these simultaneous sounds are heard so often that there must be some explanation.
Here. for example, is one possible solution; the sounds are caused by light waves heating the air near the observer. 'Photo-acoustic coupling'.
https://www.space.com/35908-meteor-sounds-mystery-solved.html
 
Mystery lights appear in sky over Lancs., falling in different directions

A man was baffled when he captured bright lights with flaming tails hurtling towards Earth from the sky.

0_3.jpg


Video taken by St Helens resident Aiden Macartain captures what appears to be meteorites falling in different directions above him in the dawn sky on Saturday morning.

In the 30-second long clip, it shows three separate bright lights descending from the sky in east and west directions.

When he tilts the camera upwards, it reveals a bright fireball-like object falling through the sky and leaves a long flaming trail.

Aiden, 43, told the Liverpool Echo that he was driving down Liverpool Road at around 6:30am [on 27.2.21] [when he saw] the lights.

He added: "I initially thought it was an aircraft but I saw five or six of them in different places and descending at different points."

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/brit-stunned-mystery-bright-lights-23585976

maximus otter
 
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More contrails. You don't get five or six meteors descending at different points in different directions.
The fact that most of these contrail movies happen at dusk is an important point.
 
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