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Remarks |
It was slower and longer lasting than other typical meteors I have seen, which usually last a fraction of a second.This sighting lasted between two and three seconds. It was significantly fatter and than a normal meteor sighting,and definitely trailed a long tail of yellow flame, but the flame was not turbulent. The flame was slightly dynamic, burning slightly rather than just being the usual thin, smooth, quick streak of white or pale blue light typical of normal meteors. It seemed to be at a low altitude in the atmosphere, lower than a cruising airliner. Intuitively, it seemed lower than 20,000 feet, but that may be an artifact of its slowness and brightness. It looked like it was less than 20 miles away, horizontally. I looked for smoke because I saw a smoky one about 20 years ago in dark conditions in the Rocky Mountains, but there was no smoke this time. It appeared approximately southeast of me and travelled in an east-northeast direction, as if heading roughly towards Denver International Airport. While I was outside for a few minutes, I was keeping a relaxed eye on the sky, wondering if I might see a Geminid meteor, despite being close to Downtown, so I was surprised to actually see one. Its size, apparent proximity, and brightness allowed me to see it under poor meteor-viewing conditions within a lot of light pollution in the heart of a city. The sky itself was clear of cloud in the direction of the meteor's flight. One detail I have high confidence in is the time. I set my watch two days ago using the website time.is. Later, when I got home, I checked my watch again and it was still accurate. I deliberately looked at my watch when the fireball disappeared and the time was 19:50:30, so my sighting occurred between 19:50:15 and 19:50:30. Also, I have reasonable confidence in the altitude above the horizon because I put out my fist at arm's length to estimate the altitude, and the sighting began roughly 35º above the ground, and descended to about 25º before disappearing behind a tall building in front of me to the east. |
