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Old 14-09-2013, 09:47 AM
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astroron (Ron)
Supernova Searcher

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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Cambroon Queensland Australia
Posts: 9,326
Quote:
Originally Posted by Soulfish View Post
We are in the Flinders Ranges in SA and saw the most amazing site last night. It appeared to be a shooting star but then almost looked to explode further on it's path. It was spectacular!! Did anyone else see this? If so, what was it?
Chelli and
What you saw was probably a Meteor, sometimes given the name Bolide depending on it's size and other factors.
Shooting stars are small pieces of cometary or asteroid origin which burn up in the atmosphere.
They travel between 20 too 70 kilometers per second and burn up at about 60 kilometers in altitude.
Well done on your meteor spotting.
It could have also been space junk reentering the atmosphere.
Cheers
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