Shooting Star ove SE Oz
Shooting Star ove SE Oz
Did anyobe see the commet enter the atmosphere somewhere to the east of SE Oz on Tuesday night, about 10pm. I was with a student climbing out of Denilequin, our HDG gave us a perfect view through the windshield and climbing through 9000 we were above all the haze so we had the most magnificent view.
In all it lasted about 20 seconds, looked very much like the sparks one gets when angle grinding, and litup the whole quadrant of the sky.
Awesome stuff.
In all it lasted about 20 seconds, looked very much like the sparks one gets when angle grinding, and litup the whole quadrant of the sky.
Awesome stuff.
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Yessss I saw it in Melbourne!!! it was massive!!! about 10 ish absolutely amazing! the most spectacular astronomical sight I have ever seen. I saw it by fluke, I wonder if they where expecting it?? I wonder if it was Comet McNaught??
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I didn't see the one you saw. But during my NVFR test I saw one.
First saw it just as it really started to light up and pointed it out as traffic to the testing officer. Or at least start to until I realised what it was. D'oh.
Truly spectacular though.
First saw it just as it really started to light up and pointed it out as traffic to the testing officer. Or at least start to until I realised what it was. D'oh.
Truly spectacular though.
Evertonian
Yes, I saw the "meteor"...bluddy amazing!
I'm near Tulla & was parking my car at home when the sky lit up. By the time I got to look up, it was about 1/3 of the way through its flight. Made the sky a strange blue-ish colour, but the trail was green (to me). After it had gone, there was a pale grey streak left in the sky, like a contrail, that lasted a few moments more. Awesome stuff. The speed across the sky was incredible.
I'm near Tulla & was parking my car at home when the sky lit up. By the time I got to look up, it was about 1/3 of the way through its flight. Made the sky a strange blue-ish colour, but the trail was green (to me). After it had gone, there was a pale grey streak left in the sky, like a contrail, that lasted a few moments more. Awesome stuff. The speed across the sky was incredible.
A comet is an icy lump of rock/ice that has its own orbit around the sun. They are kilometres in diameter, and may be regular (eg Halley's Comet every 76 years) or one offs, appearing from deep space, getting pulled towards the sun, and flung back off into oblivion.
A meteor is a small object (usually very small; a common shooting star is no bigger than a grain of sand) that enters the earth's atmosphere and burns up.
A meteorite is a meteor that hits the surface of the earth. Very few get this far.
A meteor is a small object (usually very small; a common shooting star is no bigger than a grain of sand) that enters the earth's atmosphere and burns up.
A meteorite is a meteor that hits the surface of the earth. Very few get this far.
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I saw it too! I was about 80 miles NW of Melbourne, but it only lasted a couple of seconds. It lit up the whole area, student had his head down doing paperwork, and was shattered when I told him what he missed. Read in the paper it was a meteor the size of a tennis ball.
Evertonian
Maybe it started as a bowling ball, turned into a tennis ball, reduced down to a golf ball & finished up as a marble? An "all round" meteor I'd say...well placed to land in Oz...as a dust particle.
Man Bilong Balus long PNG
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Nope, but saw a UFO once over Katoomba ........ oooppsss , shouldn't be saying that
Buster; Once read somewhere that any meteor that burns with a colour and leaves a coloured trail is most likely 'space junk.'
Don't know if that is true or not.
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I didn't see that one but I had seen another one earlier that evening which didn't get any media coverage. It was a bright white light lasting about 10-12 seconds and appeared to be travelling generally southwest and very fast - traversed about 150 degrees of sky in that time. I was in Templestowe and it was still daylight - around 18:10. Popped out and bought a lottery ticket on the strength of it but no luck.
Multicoloured Meteors
If the meteor burns up with many different bright colours, there is a good chance that it is space junk. Colours are caused as the metals burn up, and obviously space junk is made from many different metals .
Some meteors (being rock and dust particles) may burn with different colours depending on their composition (mainly iron and nickel) however they are generally more uniform in colour...
The wake or trail behind a meteor, however, is most frequently green as that is caused by ionized oxygen in the atmosphere as the meteor burns up.
Some meteors (being rock and dust particles) may burn with different colours depending on their composition (mainly iron and nickel) however they are generally more uniform in colour...
The wake or trail behind a meteor, however, is most frequently green as that is caused by ionized oxygen in the atmosphere as the meteor burns up.
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Comp Stall: ".....A comet is an icy lump of rock/ice that has its own orbit around the sun...."
I've been called a lot of unpleasent things before but that really is insulting.
The Comet.
I've been called a lot of unpleasent things before but that really is insulting.
The Comet.
Evertonian
Interesting! If it was space junk, that's one crazy orbit then...not quite Polar but, as junk, it probably made its own way....
(I hope they weren't here to pick up Steve Fossett!)
(I hope they weren't here to pick up Steve Fossett!)
I'm reminded of something I witnessed about 25 yrs ago. I was heading back to Bendigo one Friday night around 10.30 in the evening and was feeling pretty relaxed after an incident I'd had earlier on the evening that had really rattled me. The aeroplane was droning along on a crystal clear night with not a ripple to be felt when, more than a little unexpectedly, the sky was lit up ahead by this great incandescent arc of fire spreading across the sky.
I was actually that startled (still in the slighty rattled mode), I ducked.
The core colour of what I was seeing was a very intense bright yellow, but there appeared to be a number or big globules breaking off, or melting off the main object whatever it was. As these pieces seperated the fire trail they left was a vivid green colour. So far it's been the most spectacular thing I've ever seen in the night sky (other than the stars themselves of course). Never heard anything of what it was, but I've always figured it to be some sort of space junk re-entering the atmosphere. Wish I'd seen the event the other night.
I was actually that startled (still in the slighty rattled mode), I ducked.
The core colour of what I was seeing was a very intense bright yellow, but there appeared to be a number or big globules breaking off, or melting off the main object whatever it was. As these pieces seperated the fire trail they left was a vivid green colour. So far it's been the most spectacular thing I've ever seen in the night sky (other than the stars themselves of course). Never heard anything of what it was, but I've always figured it to be some sort of space junk re-entering the atmosphere. Wish I'd seen the event the other night.
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VH-CheerUp, what you saw was definitely an artifical satellite in orbit around Earth.
If it lasted 10-12 seconds theres no chance it was a meteor. Meteors last very few seconds, one's which last that long are usually very large. Go on youtube and search for comets, and you'll see that the large ones hardly last 10-12 seconds either.
And as you say, around 18:10, it is the perfect time to view artifical satellites because around dusk & dawn the sunlight illuminates the satellites , making them more visible than during noon or say during night time.
I have seen the MIR station pass overhead back before it was decommisioned, as well as the International Space Station, and smaller satellites on many occasions. Its just a matter of lookin up around dusk and waiting around 10-15 minutes, and you're guaranteed to see a dim "star" traverse the sky at a constant medium speed.
There. I'm done boring you guys.
If it lasted 10-12 seconds theres no chance it was a meteor. Meteors last very few seconds, one's which last that long are usually very large. Go on youtube and search for comets, and you'll see that the large ones hardly last 10-12 seconds either.
And as you say, around 18:10, it is the perfect time to view artifical satellites because around dusk & dawn the sunlight illuminates the satellites , making them more visible than during noon or say during night time.
I have seen the MIR station pass overhead back before it was decommisioned, as well as the International Space Station, and smaller satellites on many occasions. Its just a matter of lookin up around dusk and waiting around 10-15 minutes, and you're guaranteed to see a dim "star" traverse the sky at a constant medium speed.
There. I'm done boring you guys.
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Spelunker
I don't think it was a satellite. It was large and very bright, not at all like a dim star. I've seen satellites before and this seemed much larger, and very much brighter. Bright like a white flare or firework, but with a bright white trail behind it, not a smoke trail.
And it traversed an enormous arc of the sky in that time. OK, maybe it was 7-8 seconds, I can't be that sure. I stopped and looked for a few minutes to see if there were any more as I have seen meteor showers before now - several years ago. It took a similar path to those showers.
If it had been a satellite, would I not have seen it disappear at the horizon?
This thing seemed to just die out mid-sky. Way before the horizon.
It definitely was not an aircraft. And I had not been drinking or otherwise indulging.
Honest.
I don't think it was a satellite. It was large and very bright, not at all like a dim star. I've seen satellites before and this seemed much larger, and very much brighter. Bright like a white flare or firework, but with a bright white trail behind it, not a smoke trail.
And it traversed an enormous arc of the sky in that time. OK, maybe it was 7-8 seconds, I can't be that sure. I stopped and looked for a few minutes to see if there were any more as I have seen meteor showers before now - several years ago. It took a similar path to those showers.
If it had been a satellite, would I not have seen it disappear at the horizon?
This thing seemed to just die out mid-sky. Way before the horizon.
It definitely was not an aircraft. And I had not been drinking or otherwise indulging.
Honest.
If it left a trail, it was almost certainly not a satellite in orbit.
However a point of correction, a satellite may appear to be very very bright and it may fade out anywhere overhead depending on where the earth's shadow ends/starts.
For those so inclined, www.heavens-above.com will provide hours of amusement.
However a point of correction, a satellite may appear to be very very bright and it may fade out anywhere overhead depending on where the earth's shadow ends/starts.
For those so inclined, www.heavens-above.com will provide hours of amusement.
