Reports Report 458u (Event 458-2024)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Richard B |
| Experience Level | 3/5 |
| Remarks | It had been a hot day and we had all the windows and doors open with the lights off (so as not to attract insects) and we were sitting at the kitchen table in near dark, talking. The sighting was a real suprise and spectacular compared with anything else I have seen so I immediately mentioned it to family members also present. I was the only one to see it because I happened to be looking in exactly the right direction. I described what I'd seen to them and we speculated as to whether it was a firework or a meteorite. I believed it to be a meteorite because of the trajectory, no sound that I could hear (and a firework would have had to be quite close for me to see it) and no other bright lights or sounds around the time. I had put this to the back of my mind until I read the article in Stuff about it and recalled with my wife that my sighting coincided with what was reported. I had a very restricted viewing window - the trajectory was framed by our kitchen window frame and a neighbour's roof so I think my directional angles are quite good. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Auckland, Auckland (NZ) |
| Latitude | 36° 53' 16.63'' S (-36.887954°) |
| Longitude | 174° 43' 49.48'' E (174.730411°) |
| Elevation | 32m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2024-01-21 21:10 NZDT |
| UT Date & Time | 2024-01-21 08:10 UT |
| Duration | ≈1.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up right to down left |
| Descent Angle | 259° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 154.08° |
| First azimuth | 152.26° |
| First elevation | 37° |
| Last azimuth | 145.71° |
| Last elevation | 25° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -18 |
| Color | Yellow, Light Yellow |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 1s |
| Length | 1° |
| Remarks | The fireball was ejecting material as it went and this provided a very short trail as their glow dissipated rapidly |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | What really caught my attention was its brightness, relatively large size and the fact that fragments seems to be coming off it in a shower. The fragments were short lived but definitely there, and coming off the object from (using the clock face, with 8 being the direction of travel) 6 to 12 |