Reports Report 4517r (Event 4517-2016)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bryan H |
| Experience Level | 3/5 |
| Remarks | Wife and I lived 17 years in Arizona and have seen many meteor showers. This fireball was very low to the horizon, very fast and by far the largest we've ever seen. In the one to two seconds that we had it in our vision, the fireball went from very bright royal blue to an extremely bright flash of lime green, at which point the fireball itself disappeared and a few fragments flared (sparkled?) yellowish-white and started fallinging towards the ground. These fragments were only visible for a fraction of a second. I believe there was the slightest trail of smoke behind the fireball, but I am not positive of that. It look like whatever it was, was destined to hit the ground just north and west of Portland, Oregon. We were traveling southbound on the I-205 freeway looking directly south, and many vehicles on the freeway slowed down and/or tapped their brakes as this fireball occurred. Quite the experience. FYI - I am part of a small real-time team that supervises the power grid of the western third of North America. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Vancouver, WA |
| Latitude | 45° 37' 37.51'' N (45.627087°) |
| Longitude | 122° 33' 35.39'' W (-122.55983°) |
| Elevation | 88.848m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2016-11-16 20:00 PST |
| UT Date & Time | 2016-11-17 04:00 UT |
| Duration | ≈1.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up left to down right |
| Descent Angle | 102° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 180° |
| First azimuth | 160° |
| First elevation | 30° |
| Last azimuth | 185° |
| Last elevation | 20° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -16 |
| Color | Bright royal blue then flashed very bright lime green, then disappeared |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Unknown |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Unknown |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 0.25s |
| Length | 5° |
| Remarks | Sighted and within 1-2 seconds glowed bright royal blue then flashed terminally very bright lime green, then disappeared with a few sparkles of fragmentation and very short smoke trail. This was a very fast mover. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | Sighted and within 1-2 seconds glowed bright royal blue then flashed terminally very bright lime green, then disappeared with a few sparkles of fragmentation and very short smoke trail. This was a very fast mover. |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | Sighted and within 1-2 seconds glowed bright royal blue then flashed terminally very bright lime green, then disappeared with a few sparkles of fragmentation and very short smoke trail. This was a very fast mover. |