Seeing the snow-covered ground turning bright blue was almost as amazing as seeing the blue streak and fireball.
Location
Address
Northville, MI
Latitude
42° 25' 17.91'' N (42.421642°)
Longitude
83° 33' 40.81'' W (-83.561337°)
Elevation
292.019m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2018-01-16 20:08 EST
UT Date & Time
2018-01-17 01:08 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
163°
Moving
Facing azimuth
270.06°
First azimuth
268.8°
First elevation
85°
Last azimuth
277.79°
Last elevation
45°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-20
Color
Light Blue, Orange, Yellow, White
Concurrent Sound
Observation
No
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
Yes
Remarks
I heard a sound 20 to 30 seconds after the meteor broke up. Lasted at least 5 seconds. Volume changed several times. Sounded more like an explosion (crunching and cracking) than distant thunder (rumbling).
Persistent train
Observation
No
Duration
-
Length
-
Remarks
-
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
Blue streak started to fade and turn white or yellow, then a orange and red flash smaller than a full moon appears.
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
Fragmentation was of different sizes and went in different directions, not in same trajectory as the blue streak. Fragmentation seemed to flutter like the end of a firework explosion. Not what I expected for a large distant object. Fragmentation lasted less than a second.
