Meteor

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Was outside last night attempting to image ... badly and happened to glance up to see a meteor pass through from WSW to ESE at a very shallow angle In the southern sky at about 20:25 local time. Pass time was about 1.5 seconds or less maybe and was the longest I've seen. Transit was just above the Crux, a long streak about 45 dgerees at least, no breakupand almost pure white, no colour. Unfortunately disappeared behind the trees on my eastern boundary so didn't see a termination. I wonder if it managed to skip back out.

Magic .. !! the wonders of the sky eh ?

The images are getting better but they are still pretty crud ....

[Liz]

Ooh, noice, lucky you Brent.
Havent seen a meteor for MANY months.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

I think I may have also captured one across one of the frames I took. Was on the set at home but not here at work. ( I copied them to USB to fiddle with in quiet times ).
I'll have to go a check closer later on.

I have seen a few lately. Being daylight savings still I go down our long (85 meter) driveway to get the paper in the dark now and have seen a few in the dawn sky. Best time to look I am told. And the sky is clear too. Eta C looks awesome in my SW sky and my eyes are still dark adapted. I can actually enjoy my 2 minute meander there and back.

[Suzy]

Hey, I'm Suzy's daughter Chrissy,

I happened to look outside last night from my window (same time as you, 9:30 AUS time) to see if the skies were clear so I could tell mum, literally within one second of looking I saw a huge meteor that matches very closely to the description you provided. It was very low in the horizon and long in length with no colour, but very very bright! It was one of the biggest meteors I have ever seen! It was so big I thought it was an airplane and due to it's low location in the horizon it appeared to be heading towards the ground, i was like 'OHMIGOSH the plane is going to crash!' Soon enough I realised it was actually a meteor. There was a long flaming tail, like fire and then it crumbled/disintegrated.
It was so weird, I never look out my window like that and that spot in the sky isn't normally visible to me because the tree is in the way but dad had recently cut that section out- what are the odds!? Mum was so mad she missed it

[Suzy]

Brent, I just noticed that you saw your meteor the night before and Chrissy saw hers last night. But it was definitely in the same area as you saw yours. Does anyone know if there is a meteor shower happening in that area at the moment or what's going on?

[Liz]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Hey, I'm Suzy's daughter Chrissy,

It was one of the biggest meteors I have ever seen! Mum was so mad she missed it

Good on you Chrissy!! We love BIG meteors, but dont see them as much as we would like, and when we do, its kinda pot luck when we are not looking for them.
Suzy missed it, bad luck Suzy.

[Suzy]

Just looked out of Chrissy's window at the gap in the trees which faces south east, where she saw the meteor. She said it headed towards next door's house on the left (her window faces south). So looks like it was heading East. Starry nights tells me around 10pm (the time she saw it) that Norma is 20 deg high, laying south east (below Centaurus).

Could this be part of the Gamma Normids shower which is happening between 25th Feb & 22nd March (peak 13th March)?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_meteor_showers

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Liz

Good on you Chrissy!! We love BIG meteors, but dont see them as much as we would like, and when we do, its kinda pot luck when we are not looking for them.
Suzy missed it, bad luck Suzy.

Liz
That's the second fire ball I've missed that Chrissy got (Geminids being the first one, not so long ago). So she has seen two and I've seen zilch! Who's the mad astronomer in this family I ask, these things are supposed to happen to me.
If I hear her screaming one more time at a fireball she's seen, well... well... just well!

[astroron (Ron)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Liz
That's the second fire ball I've missed that Chrissy got (Geminids being the first one, not so long ago). So she has seen two and I've seen zilch! Who's the mad astronomer in this family I ask, these things are supposed to happen to me.
If I hear her screaming one more time at a fireball she's seen, well... well... just well!

Suzy, you will have to spend more time outside under the Stars instead of sitting on the computer or watching "Desperate House Wives"
to catch those lovely bright meteors that Chrisy sees
For a Meteor to be from the Gamma Normids, it must come from that direction,not go towards it.

Cheers

[Suzy]

But Norma is south east and it was heading away from it East
Aye, am so confused.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Hi Suzy, Chrissy, Ron.
> Chrissy : IF it had been on the same night it would still have been wrong, NZ is 2 hours ahead of Aust so 8.30 NZ is 6.30 Aust. So you saw another meteor which is even better being from the same direction.

I possibly thought it was an old satellite re-entry as the angle was so shallow but if you have seen another meteor from the same direction we may have passed through some minor or unknown shower. I think my possible frame capture is also in the same direction, I'll check tonight.

I've seen quite a few meteors in the last 10 months or so. Must be because I'm looking up a lot more. I certainly have had a few pass through my vision in the scope but I guess you see the little ones that would not normally be visible. Same goes for satellites.

[Suzy]

Hi Brent,

Aye, in our first post our excitement took over the reality of our time difference, which afterwards I came to realise. When I realised that your post was made 24 hrs earlier it made it all the more exciting!

I looked over and over again, Chrissy showed me the exact spot in the sky where she saw it out of her window and the position she was in when she saw it, and at the same time. It was definitely south east.

Though I see plenty of the odd meteors high in the sky,I have no experience with meteor showers, or fireballs, how they should travel through entry etc. The Geminids was my first one. I'm just starting to learn about this nowadays- very interesting stuff.