Reports Report 578m (Event 578-2017)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dan E |
| Experience Level | 2/5 |
| Remarks | My watch said 2:43 AM immediately after the fireball faded and the cable box in the living room said the same when I glanced inside. I had synchronized my digital wristwatch with the WCBS top-of-the-hour "bong" only 3 days ago (yes, we can pick up that New York AM station all the way down here in Florida if conditions are right) so I am confident that the time was 0743 UTC. I'm pretty confident in my brightness estimate as well since a few hours earlier I had been outside looking at the near-full moon. The fireball was very bright. From where I live (about 60 miles south of Cape Canaveral) we watch launches all the time and when I stepped outside the back door that's what I thought I was witnessing: except that it was much bigger and brighter than what we normally see during a launch and it was moving from west to east, unlike rockets that go up. I've seen many meteors over the years but this was my first fireball sighting and it was much more dramatic. I feel very lucky to have stepped outside only a few seconds before this event. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Vero Beach, FL |
| Latitude | 27° 38' 19.05'' N (27.638624°) |
| Longitude | 80° 29' 30.36'' W (-80.491766°) |
| Elevation | 6.874m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2017-02-12 02:43 EST |
| UT Date & Time | 2017-02-12 07:43 UT |
| Duration | ≈3.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From left to right |
| Descent Angle | 90° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | - |
| First azimuth | - |
| First elevation | 22° |
| Last azimuth | 25° |
| Last elevation | 21° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -11 |
| Color | Light Yellow, White |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 5s |
| Length | 15° |
| Remarks | It was as if the object was shedding small pieces of debris behind it. Each piece of debris - much smaller than the main object itself - brightened and faded individually, like sparks coming off of a dragging tailpipe. It reminded me somewhat of amateur video taken when the Space Shuttle Columbia broke up over Texas in 2003. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |