Major Fireball/Meteor Event
Northeast and New England States
Tuesday November 2nd, 2010
7:20 p.m. EDT
written by Jim Gamble
El PasoTX Station
Sandia Allsky Camera
North American Meteor Network
On Tuesday November 2nd at approximately 7:20 p.m. EDT, numerous reports began to stream into http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com of a very bright meteor event along the U.S. east coast from Rhode Island to Maine. The following is a summary of those reports.
*7:20 p.m EDT….Report from North Quincy MA south of Logan airport of a ball of fire with a comet-like trail moving slowly from Southeast to Northwest. As the object dimmed, red colored debris could be seen fragmenting behind the parent body.
*7:15 p.m. EDT….Report from East Weymouth, MA of a large white ball with a long tail behind it moving toward Boston from South Shore. Object appeared to be moving East to West lasting approximately 3 to 4 seconds. Object appeared to explode with red colored pieces falling toward the ground.
*7:18 p.m. EDT….Report of a very large ball of fire with an even longer tail behind it moving East to West over Hampstead NH. Fireball lasted a couple of seconds.
*7:30 p.m. EDT….Report from Warwick, RI of a blue-ish green fireball lasting about 2 seconds. Reporter lives near an airport. No report of direction of movement.
*Just before 7:20 p.m. EDT….Report from a pilot at home 16 miles Northwest of Boston, MA of a fireball transiting a Northeast facing window about 3 to 4 degrees above the horizon. Fireball was yellow in color and lasted 4 seconds. Reporter notes pieces falling off parent body during it’s flight.
*7:15 p.m. EDT….Report from Gloucester/Rockport, MA of a very bright, very low green colored fireball moving from Southeast to Northwest. Reporter indicates a wide, long tail of “white sparklers”. Object appeared to break up quickly. Reporter notes a very clear dark sky.
*No Time Reported....Report from Hudson NH. Fireball appeared about 4-5 degrees off of the horizon beginning in the east and transiting out of view to the north. Bright white in appearance, with fragments falling off. Reminded reporter of the video of the shuttle break-up a few years ago.
UPDATES as of 10:30 a.m. MDT Wed. Nov 3, 2010
*No Time Reported....Report from Hudson NH. Fireball appeared about 4-5 degrees off of the horizon beginning in the east and transiting out of view to the north. Bright white in appearance, with fragments falling off. Reminded reporter of the video of the shuttle break-up a few years ago.
*7:15 p.m. EDT....Report from Quebec City Canada of a bolide passing overhead moving West to East. Event lasted 4 to 6 seconds. Object reported to break up during flight over the area.
*7:30-ish p.m. EDT....Report fromNorthfield MA of a fireball traveling east to west. It was a long, comet type object that was shedding fragments behind it as it slowly moved across the sky.
*7:15 p.m. EDT....Report from Holderness NH of a fireball at about 12 degrees up from horizontal, at 100 degrees (magnetic). It reached a peak at about 35 degrees - perhaps 40, then traveled NW toward 32o degrees, exploding in a fireball at about 15 - 18 degrees up from the horizontal. Observer reports impression of a smoky tail.
*7:15 p.m. EDT....I was working in Queens, NY at Rufus King park at approx. 7:15pm I saw a HUGH fireball flying low to the ground. It was headed east toward Boston. It was no other shooting star. I could see craters in it. It was emitting fiery sparkles with a huge tail. I thought it was a rocket. I actually braced for impact because it was so low.
This summary will be updated as additional reports/data come in.
Please refer any inquiries or e-mail videos and/or pics to drtanuki@gmail.com
