American Meteor Society

Reports Report 4906d (Event 4906-2017)

Observer
Name tom g
Experience Level 3/5
Remarks I was looking east at Orion at 7:20 pm and saw an orange teardrop fireball with a tail going straight down. I first saw it at about 40 degrees above the horizon and it went straight down until it disappeared behind some trees. I saw it for maybe 2 seconds. Hard to judge distance, it may have been 20 miles or it could have been over the coast. The head was about the size of Venus from my perspective. I would be interested to know if anyone else saw it.
Location
Address Alton, VA
Latitude 36° 34' 35.16'' N (36.576433°)
Longitude 78° 57' 46.66'' W (-78.962962°)
Elevation 157.82m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2017-12-04 19:20 EST
UT Date & Time 2017-12-05 00:20 UT
Duration ≈1.5s
Direction
Moving direction From up to down
Descent Angle 180°
Moving
Facing azimuth 70°
First azimuth 80°
First elevation 40°
Last azimuth 80°
Last elevation -
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude -5
Color Orange
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation No
Duration -
Length -
Remarks -
Terminal flash
Observation No
Remarks -
Fragmentation
Observation No
Remarks -