Meteor

I was in my backyard checking out the weather and viewing
conditions a few minutes ago and just happened to be looking
towards Mars when off to my right (to the SSW) I saw the
largest and brightest meteor that I have ever witnessed.
Most meteors are very quickly into and then out of sight,
often with less than one second's duration. This one
streaked across the sky with a duration of 4-5 seconds.
It was approximately the same brightness and color (but
slightly smaller in apparent size) as Mars. As it
traversed the sky there were 3 rather large flares or
orange color bursts and it left a trail visible for about
2-3 seconds after it burned out. Here is a data description
that is as accurate as I can make it. I first viewed it
to the SSE in approximately Scutum (about 190 deg AZ and
an ALT of 45 deg). It traveled NE (as I percieved it)
through Capricornus (under Mars - which gave me a good shot
at comparing it's visible size and color) and continued
to the NE and burned out at about 120 deg. AZ / 10 deg. ALT.
Time of viewing was 1943 hrs PDT (UT-7) and my location is
Las Vegas, Nevada - Lat.36.19N x Lon.115.02W.
Just wondering if by chance any one else witnessed this very
beautiful display. I have seen dozens (nay hundreds) of
meteors in my lifetime but for me this was the best one.
OK - sorry for rambling but I am still excited. It really
made my day!!!
Tony

Ah Tony, you lucky dog. I am wondering if you saw some space junk? We had
something like this go over Washington last year and it was a trip! Of
course it was visible during the day and went all the way to Montana, so
maybe not.


"Tony Vinci" wrote in message
om...
I was in my backyard checking out the weather and viewing
conditions a few minutes ago and just happened to be looking
towards Mars when off to my right (to the SSW) I saw the
largest and brightest meteor that I have ever witnessed.
Most meteors are very quickly into and then out of sight,
often with less than one second's duration. This one
streaked across the sky with a duration of 4-5 seconds.
It was approximately the same brightness and color (but
slightly smaller in apparent size) as Mars. As it
traversed the sky there were 3 rather large flares or
orange color bursts and it left a trail visible for about
2-3 seconds after it burned out. Here is a data description
that is as accurate as I can make it. I first viewed it
to the SSE in approximately Scutum (about 190 deg AZ and
an ALT of 45 deg). It traveled NE (as I percieved it)
through Capricornus (under Mars - which gave me a good shot
at comparing it's visible size and color) and continued
to the NE and burned out at about 120 deg. AZ / 10 deg. ALT.
Time of viewing was 1943 hrs PDT (UT-7) and my location is
Las Vegas, Nevada - Lat.36.19N x Lon.115.02W.
Just wondering if by chance any one else witnessed this very
beautiful display. I have seen dozens (nay hundreds) of
meteors in my lifetime but for me this was the best one.
OK - sorry for rambling but I am still excited. It really
made my day!!!
Tony

Ah Tony, you lucky dog. I am wondering if you saw some space junk? We had
something like this go over Washington last year and it was a trip! Of
course it was visible during the day and went all the way to Montana, so
maybe not.


"Tony Vinci" wrote in message
om...
I was in my backyard checking out the weather and viewing
conditions a few minutes ago and just happened to be looking
towards Mars when off to my right (to the SSW) I saw the
largest and brightest meteor that I have ever witnessed.
Most meteors are very quickly into and then out of sight,
often with less than one second's duration. This one
streaked across the sky with a duration of 4-5 seconds.
It was approximately the same brightness and color (but
slightly smaller in apparent size) as Mars. As it
traversed the sky there were 3 rather large flares or
orange color bursts and it left a trail visible for about
2-3 seconds after it burned out. Here is a data description
that is as accurate as I can make it. I first viewed it
to the SSE in approximately Scutum (about 190 deg AZ and
an ALT of 45 deg). It traveled NE (as I percieved it)
through Capricornus (under Mars - which gave me a good shot
at comparing it's visible size and color) and continued
to the NE and burned out at about 120 deg. AZ / 10 deg. ALT.
Time of viewing was 1943 hrs PDT (UT-7) and my location is
Las Vegas, Nevada - Lat.36.19N x Lon.115.02W.
Just wondering if by chance any one else witnessed this very
beautiful display. I have seen dozens (nay hundreds) of
meteors in my lifetime but for me this was the best one.
OK - sorry for rambling but I am still excited. It really
made my day!!!
Tony