American Meteor Society

Reports Report 5255d (Event 5255-2020)

Observer
Name Justin M
Experience Level 4/5
Remarks It was small and burned up fast, likely by angle. It looked like it burned up in the air before any impact. It was just a short neon orange streak. I have a background in astronomy, it was relative magnitude to a bit brighter than Venus, and the streak was no wider than 3 fingers at an arms length. I see green ones frequently, so don't often report them, but this was a neon orange, Sodium meteor that must has scraped the top of the magnetosphere and burned up fast. I doubt there would be any debris by the angle it appeared before it disintegrated. If there are, they'd be west of 15 Mile and Utica, but I watched it burn up in one or two seconds.
Location
Address Clinton Township, MI
Latitude 42° 33' 3.51'' N (42.550975°)
Longitude 82° 58' 7.11'' W (-82.968643°)
Elevation 186.373352m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2020-09-18 21:30 EDT
UT Date & Time 2020-09-19 01:30 UT
Duration <1s
Direction
Moving direction From up to down
Descent Angle 180°
Moving
Facing azimuth 279.97°
First azimuth 280.31°
First elevation 45°
Last azimuth 290.13°
Last elevation 45°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -6
Color Orange
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation No
Duration -
Length -
Remarks -
Terminal flash
Observation No
Remarks -
Fragmentation
Observation Yes
Remarks A trail of orange, Sodium, a small sodium meteor hit the atmosphere and disintegrated a very short trail. From the distance, it only scraped the sky for a couple inches by perspective. Orange was strange, I normally see metallic. Copper element green meteors.