A rippa meteor!

[asimov]

I was out imaging mars tonight (3rd dec) When out the corner of my eye I spotted this damn thing barrelling in! Heading due north @ zenith.

Bright orange & it ended up splitting in 3 before it burnt out....What a glorious sight!! I actually physically ducked! :lol: It scared me for a brief moment. impossible to tell at what altitude it was of course, but there was no noise.:)

[fringe_dweller]

There great those ones - lucky bugger :) did it ruin your night vision? :-)))

[asimov]

LOL Kearn!

Wonder what the chances are to have the scope pointed in the right direction one night while shooting an AVI :confuse3: Once in a life time, if I'm lucky.

[fringe_dweller]

wheres the Kodak when you need it John!

[davidpretorius]

i spose the exposure would handle the brightness if you were doing a planet, but yes it would be an arsy shot!

[JethroB76]

Maybe this was the same big fireball that was filmed on home video in Perth (I think?) that has been mentioned on news updates today? looks ****** impressive from what I've seen of it!:prey2:

[fringe_dweller]

thanks Don - cant find the video on the net - just the stories - damn! wow sonic booms are rare! did they catch the booms on the footage?
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1523140.htm
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17456726-29277,00.html
normally most individual meteors are only seen from a roughly at most 250 klm radius below the trail - but there are exceptions of course - i know of one that was seen from Adelaide to Melbourne in the 80's

PS i am going to be a pedant Asi - a meteorite is what you find if they make it to the ground

[davidpretorius]

ps i am going to be an idiot asi - and call it a crashing flying saucer!!!

[asimov]

I knew that Kearn, Just checking to see who would correct me first.

PS, I would appreciate a full stop after the end of your sentence, cheers mate.

:P :lol:

[asimov]

You....an idiot Dave!?......NEVER!!

Just joking of course Kearn with the full stop rubbish!

[asimov]

Kearn, you'd be the bloke to ask about this: Did you ever pick up any tecktites (not sure on spelling) on the Nullabour Plain years ago or anything? I did have a bag full of them we picked up 20 odd years ago but I can't find 'em!

[fringe_dweller]

hehe I deserved that :) no i havent found any personally mate - but what puts me off looking is the stupid laws in this state regarding recovered meteorites on SA soil - i dont know if you know, but it is illegal to keep or sell meteorites found in this state - it makes me furious! you automatically are supposed to donate them to the museum - its the only state with this moronic law - who do they think they are making a law like that - sometimes i dont like some scientists, killjoys! - some types of very rare meteorites are worth up to $10 000 U.S. a gram!!!
its not like they are fossils or local wildlife! that i can understand,
but these fall from space!
I think they made it coz it is so damn easy to find them on those flat featureless plains/deserts as you mentioned

[asimov]

Well, seeing as I can't even find them, anyone else will have a tough time finding them too! That's absurd anyway, not being able to keep a couple of them!

I'll stuff that law up! Gonna make me a 10 mile diameter net & string it out over the nullabour plain & catch the tektites BEFORE they touch SA soil! Lets see them get around that one!!! :P

[ballaratdragons]

So what colour was it? Silver, reddish green, purple or bright orange????

[fringe_dweller]

and just in case anyone thinks that you can get around that - if it is worth money (and i think they all are to some extent) the buyers of expensive ones (scientists/museums in the US usually i think) require a picture of the recovery site with meteorite in its resting position and details of location ect., and they even will analyse the soil remnants from the site -that may be embedded sometimes - they are very strict on that I think

[fringe_dweller]

yer it makes me blood boil :mad2: - your not even allowed to just keep them!!!

:lol: :lol: I like it dude -- stick it to them!

[asimov]

I did'nt see the whole show Ken, just caught it out the corner of my eye while I was looking thru the finder scope, so I probably missed the 1st 1/4-1/2 second. When I gave it my full attention, it was just starting to seperate into 3 pieces & it was bright orange with a bright orange/yellow tail. Perhaps before I caught it, it was silver or white, not sure.

I only saw one.

[Starkler]

So how do you distinguish a meteorite from any other lump of rock you see lying on the ground?

[astrogeek]

I was driving through central victoria last night at about 2:30am when the whole sky lit up light a lightning strike, I could see everything as if it were the middle of a sunny day. I looked around to the east and saw a huge bright train that lasted at least sixty seconds before fading. This must have been a second meteor and seperate to the WA event because the WA one happend at 9:00pm (Both times in AEDT). I didn't hear any sound though so it might not have been an air burst. I only wish I had been looking at the right spot when it lit up. What are the odds of two such events in the same night? Is it a meteor storm or, doomsday style, a precurser to a big strike (Bet those Planet X doomsday predictionists will have a field day with this, lol).

[fringe_dweller]

I think people were just chartering cessna's and flying low over the outback (saltplains/lakes are the best) and noting suspicous rocks via gps and coming back for them - it was too easy

[asimov]

Where was the reported location on those sightings Ken??

[fringe_dweller]

channel 10 news have been featuring the story and footage all day on there news update - it will be on the local 5 oclock news in a few minutes

[ballaratdragons]

They are easy to spot, Geoff. They are from Space!

See pic below for how to recognise them!

[ballaratdragons]

From Albany(south of Perth), Kojonup, Kalgoorlie (400k East of Perth) across the wheat belt and out over the Southern Ocean!

[fringe_dweller]

the short answer is the sought after ones are metallic mostly - a magnet will give them away - also they use metal detectors to find buried ones

[fringe_dweller]

wow just saw the full report - some farmers were in shock after an ear splitting sonic boom - that even flipped open the hatch on a grain silo it was so powerful!!!!!!!

[asimov]

I've seen plenty like the one I saw the other night in my time. Can't be the same one as sighted by other people that night. The one I saw was not overly bright, certainly didn't light up the whole sky. It was spectacular, but not as described in the reports you posted Ken.

[ballaratdragons]

I've only ever seen 2 giant Fireballs! One up at the Central Coast about 4 years ago and one down here about 12 years ago. They were amazing!!!!

Both were Orange, definately on fire, silent and dissapeared over the horizon on both occasions. They are stuck in my memory like videos!

[ballaratdragons]

It was just on Channel 9 News Melbourne! They said they are not sure if it was a Meteor or SpaceJunk! but it made buildings shake as it flew over!!!!

[fringe_dweller]

who knows guys - Asi's and Astrogeek's could of been connected with the WA one - hard to say - but good on ya's for telling us about them - to many people keep this stuff to themselves

[fringe_dweller]

here's another news story http://tinyurl.com/837pa

[fringe_dweller]

John what time did you see yours? - and I know you would see nice bright meteors all the time living where you do and being outside at night so often,- so I am guessing it was pretty good for you to mention it in the firstplace :)

PS the news reader on channel 9 called it a 'spectacular meteorite' so your not the only one Asi

[asimov]

Saw mine about 11 pm.

[fringe_dweller]

Thanks John!
would like to find a piece of mars or the moon with a dead martian worm in it - i would be RICH! HAHAHHAHHAA

sorry Geoff about the short answer - just googled - many great sites on the subject - they would probably hve a different look to surrounding rocks at a guess - they can be melted looking on the outside - and look different inside ect.

http://www.solarviews.com/eng/meteor.htm
http://www.meteorites.com/

great trivia fact about meteorites - you would think normally they would be hot to the touch straight after landing - but in fact they are often very cold after being cooled by the trip through the lower atmosphere

[asimov]

The ones we found on the nullabour years ago were shaped similar to buttons called ablated tektites. Apparently they don't spin or rotate much as they enter the atmosphere & they end up looking like a little Apollo re-entry vehicle....the re-entry face ends up domed. They come in slower as there's a fair bit of atmospheric drag.

[TidaLpHasE]

Well i saw/didn't see:confuse2: the brightest flash in the sky this morning at around 4:15 4:20 am.

I was imaging M42, and was watching a satellite coming from the north, I looked at the exposure time on the lcd screen when i noticed a flash in the corner of my eye.

It wasn't that big so i didn't bother looking for what it was, as a night of viewing has numerous flashes all over the sky.

A second or so later my whole back yard lit up brighter than day, i actually freaked out at it's intensity, and turned to see a dust, smoke, debris trail in the sky at least 25 degrees long.

It was awsome even seeing this smoke trail, it lasted only seconds then vanished into the background.

It was heading south about 50-60 degrees above the horizon.

Did anyone else from Melbourne see this this morning?

[ballaratdragons]

No Trevor but all this talk about sightings in different States I think I might brave the wind and sit outside for a few hours tonight and see if I can spot myself a Meteor.

I definately won't see them sitting inside wingeing about the lousy weather!

[gaa_ian]

Great discussion on Meteors
We saw a few bright Meteors up here during last nights viewing
Nothing like the WA or Vic Meteors though !
Sightings like these stay etched in our minds forever.

[asimov]

Thought I'd better do the right thing & rename this thread correctly. :)

[iceman]

I love the quote in the latest article linked by Kearn..


:lol:

When driving back from Lostock with Louie, we saw a bright fireball streaking from West to East, all the way down to the horizon. It was at least mag -8 or -10, had a tail with sparks flying off it.

An amazing sight.

[fringe_dweller]

Did you see your meteor sat night/sun morning to Mike? wow!
I videotaped the footage and eye witness accounts from channel 10 - i replayed it a few times - they say that it was heading S/W - if you look carefully there is only one faint star looking thing visible in the wide view over brightly lit suburbia looking S/W - and that was of course Venus at mag -4.6ish I reckon - I guesstimate roughly from that comparison that the brightest outburst may of been anything up to at least the high teens of negative mag - maybe even - 20 !! naaaa!!? Venus hardly registers on the footage tho

there is online vid from abc now as well - right hand top corner of page
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200512/s1523140.htm

[iceman]

ah nah Kearn, the one Louie and I saw was last Saturday night.

I'll have to look at the video tonight, my work firewall won't let me play it now :(

[ballaratdragons]

The Perth Fireball has made World News. It is on CNN.

They are playing the Video captured by some people and doing a 5 minute segment on it!
Must have been impressive to create such news worldwide!!

[ving]

look underneath it to see where its made? :confused:

I havent seen one for ages.... saw a slow moving one a few months back tho.

[ving]

great vid kearn!!

[avandonk]

I have heard of people dragging a three metre+ long magnetic bar and see what sticks.The Nullabor is limestone so anything that is magnetic came from somewhere else.


Bert

[ballaratdragons]

Pity it didn't work that simple with Gold, Bert. I'd be dragging something through the bush everywhere up here!

[danielsun]

Yes Trevor i think i saw the same one though i thought it was at about 2.00 am but i could be wrong . i was in the looking east when in the corner of my eye to the left of me in the north a huge multiple flash like lightning lit up the entire north sky. i just caught the end of the tail. wish i had have seen the whole thing!! It was huge!!!

[astrogeek]

Danielsun, looks like you saw the one I mentioned earlier in the thread. I was driving back from Heathcote at about 2am when I saw what you described and in the same area of sky.