Another daytime fireball

[MeteorWayne]

From Space.com link <br /><br />MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Residents from the Twin Cities to the southwestern corner of Minnesota and into Iowa reported seeing a flaming object shooting through the sky Wednesday, and experts said they may have been watching a meteor. <br /><br />Shortly after 2 p.m., people across the Twin Cities reported seeing a "metallic'' object or "flaming ball'' falling from the sky, according to broadcasters and emergency dispatchers who got hundreds of calls from people in Edina, Maple Grove and other suburbs. The callers said they saw the object traveling from the northeast to the southwest. <br /><br />Meanwhile, residents in Lyon County in far southwestern Minnesota reported hearing a loud boom Wednesday. <br /><br />"Oh man. To me it was like being on a (Navy) carrier ... when they break the sound barrier with an F14,'' Navy reservist Greg Devereaux, who lives near Amiret, told the Marshall Independent. "It sounded like a sonic boom from an F14 maybe 300 yards away. That's what it felt like. It shook the house and when I walked outside the ground was still shaking.'' <br /><br />Mike Fuhs, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, S.D., said several residents reported sightings of fireballs in the sky in northwestern Iowa, especially near Sioux City. <br /><br />As of 3:15 p.m. Wednesday, the Federal Aviation Administration hadn't received reports of anything falling from airplanes in the area. That led to speculation that the object was a meteor that had burned up in the atmosphere. <br /><br />Ken Murphy, a physics professor at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall and director of the school's planetarium, said a chunk of a meteor called a bolide can make a noise that sounds like thunder. <br /><br />"That's just a possibility of what this thing is,'' Murphy said. Murphy said his wife Sandy heard a thunder-type sound both Tuesday and Wedn <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[heyscottie]

Most interestingly, we have further evidence of people reporting sounds from meteor events...

 

[MeteorWayne]

Well, these booming sounds are quite common with large bolides.<br />Not that there's many of them <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

It would have been a <img src="/images/icons/cool.gif" /> event <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[billslugg]

MeteorWayne<br /><br />I am jealous of all these people seeing fireballs. Is there one scheduled in the near future for SW Georgia? If not could you put in the good word for us? Maybe a nice -15? Preferably on a weekend. Not next weekend though, I will be out of town. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[dragon04]

That would be so cool to see one in the daytime! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <em>"2012.. Year of the Dragon!! Get on the Dragon Wagon!".</em> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

I'll talk to my sources, but they get very cranky about specific requests. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[witgenestone]

LOL <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" />

 

[kyle_baron]

I have a question for the expert meteor watcher. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> What is the difference between a fireball (bolide) and a meteor? Does the fireball have gas with in it, that ignites, when falling thru the atmosphere? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

There is no strict definition for a fireball. In general it is a very bright meteor. Generally, about magnitude -4 or -3 is a cutoff. Venus is currently brighter than that, at magnitude - 4.5.<br /><br />And that's really all it is. The amount of energy dumped into the meteor path is dependent on the mass and velocity of the meteoroid.<br /><br />The energy increases linearly with the mass, and with the square of the velocity.<br /><br />Therefore small but fast meteors can be seen (like the Leonids @ 71 km/sec) , but a meteor that is the same size, but hits the atmosphere slower will be too dim ( like this weekend's occasional shower the Draconids @ 20 km/sec).<br /><br />Meteors that are visible in the daytime are at least -8 or so, and could weigh several hundred kgs (or pounds) to several tons, and are usually asteroidal (rocky) debris rather than normal meteors cometary dustballs.<br />Therefore they hit at the slower speeds.<br /><br />MW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[kyle_baron]

<font color="yellow"><br />I am jealous of all these people seeing fireballs.</font><br /><br />I saw one once, a few years back. It was green and flaming, with small pieces (in flames) falling off. It was moving horizontally, across the sky. I was LUCKY to see it, because I was looking down at a racoon eating the birdseed off the patio, and I caught it in the corner of my eye, and looked up. The first thought I had, was a jet exploding in mid air. It turned out to be a softball sized object, that landed in Lake Michigan, as reported on the radio the following day. It's something you'd never forget. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font size="4"><strong></strong></font></p> </div>