Reports Report 3638r (Event 3638-2014)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Sue F |
| Experience Level | 2/5 |
| Remarks | Was amazing!!! Way brighter and much, much bigger and lower than any shooting star I've ever seen. It had colors (blues, yellow, orange?) and flashes and was a smooth, fast VERY bright trajectory before it just faded away. I was driving in a dimly lit semi-rural area approaching a lake which obviously had no lights directly above it. The fireball became visible almost directly over me - at the top of my windshield, and traveled almost in the same direction I was going, but angled slightly left and faded over the lake, but low against the horizon. It was scary low! Like it was going to hit something low. It was sort of visually crackling - different parts of the trail got brighter then dimmer, then broke apart - like bits were breaking off the meteor, flaring, then dying. The whole thing happened very quickly, but it was so unusual, large and beautiful, it's seared in my memory (for the moment at least!). I had my radio on, so don't know if it made any noise. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Smithfield, RI |
| Latitude | 41° 52' 41.53'' N (41.878202°) |
| Longitude | 71° 34' 20.81'' W (-71.572448°) |
| Elevation | 102.091278m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2014-12-29 18:52 EST |
| UT Date & Time | 2014-12-29 23:52 UT |
| Duration | ≈1.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up to down |
| Descent Angle | 180° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 296.7° |
| First azimuth | 296.57° |
| First elevation | 21° |
| Last azimuth | 293.86° |
| Last elevation | 16° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -17 |
| Color | Blue, Orange, Yellow, Light Yellow |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 0.5s |
| Length | 14° |
| Remarks | Trail was bright yellow near ball, lighter yellow towards end, but was visible for a split second after the ball had disappeared. It was breaking apart as the ball flew over me, with brighter flashes along the tail as it disintegrated- like little bits of the meteor(?) were breaking off and flaring as it flew. Bright blue flash at ball end just before the whole thing disappeared. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Unknown |
| Remarks | - |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | I'm not sure what you mean by fragmentation, but it did appear that bits were breaking off the fireball and flaring brighter along the trail before burning out. |