Reports Report 5365a (Event 5365-2019)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Bill P |
| Experience Level | 5/5 |
| Remarks | The viewing was perfect. About 100 people with large telescopes were at the annual All Arizona Star Party at a dark site in western AZ south of I-10. Seeing was 6.5+ magnitude on a 100% clear night. I was looking directly at the North Star when 2 degrees below exactly on the meridian the bolide began. The beginning celestial coordinates are 88 degrees N, 13h 40'. There were four explosions each lighting up the desert below so that you could see the flora. The fireball ended 1.5 degrees NW of αlpha Ursa major (the northern pointer star) at celestial coordinates 62.5 degrees N, 10h 58'. Twelve minutes later I witnessed a second brilliant bolide at 1:21 a.m. local MST. As an avid meteor observer I have recorded 21,574 meteors, including the two bolides and ten regular meteors this night. However, this is the first time i have seen two sporadic fireballs, which were not part of a meteor shower in such a short time. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Centennial, AZ |
| Latitude | 33° 34' 41.91'' N (33.578309°) |
| Longitude | 113° 35' 11.41'' W (-113.586504°) |
| Elevation | 409.777649m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2019-10-27 01:08 MST |
| UT Date & Time | 2019-10-27 08:08 UT |
| Duration | ≈3.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up left to down right |
| Descent Angle | 132° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | - |
| First azimuth | - |
| First elevation | 31° |
| Last azimuth | 31.76° |
| Last elevation | 20° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -8 |
| Color | Golden with green on the edges of the two main fragments at the end |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 5s |
| Length | 3° |
| Remarks | The bolide broke into six or more fragments with the train behind the main body and the second largest fragment |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | There were four separate ablations (explosions) each lighting up the dark, astronomy observing site desert ground below. Each were powerful and bright. The third explosion produced small fragmentation of the main body. The fourth produced a large second fragment and about four or more smaller fragments, which traveled in front of and below the main mass. |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | The third explosion produced small fragmentation of the main body with small fragments trailing in line with the main mass. The fourth explosion produced a large second fragment about magnitude 1+ and about four or more smaller fragments, which all traveled in front of and below the main mass. The second largest fragment was visible traveling for about 1.5 seconds just ahead and below the main mass with their trails separating. The trails of the other smaller fragments were directly ahead of and a very tiny bit further below of the second fragment with the main mass above and behind other fragments. |