American Meteor Society

Reports Report 1497i (Event 1497-2012)

Observer
Name Susan
Experience Level 2/5
Remarks Even though this location is near a small shopping center, it was amazing for me to see something like this so close, so bright, and so close to the city.
Location
Address South Denver, CO
Latitude 39° 40' 9.39'' N (39.669276°)
Longitude 104° 56' 21.56'' W (-104.939322°)
Elevation -
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time 2012-10-13 19:05 MDT
UT Date & Time 2012-10-14 01:05 UT
Duration ≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction -
Descent Angle -
Moving
Facing azimuth 128.78422°
First azimuth 195.58722°
First elevation 45°
Last azimuth 142.23518°
Last elevation 45°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude 1
Color pure white
Concurrent Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Delayed Sound
Observation No
Remarks -
Persistent train
Observation Yes
Duration 3.5s
Length -1°
Remarks I came around the corner of the building in the dark and looked up to see a bright light midway in the sky south of me. I thought it was a very bright low-flying helicopter, until I saw that it was moving very fast and was a ball of pure white followed by a very bright long arched tail. It happened so fast and was so bright that I knew it must be part of a comet or meteor. I knew it was not a falling star because it was so much bigger, brighter and fantastic. I think that the tail just seemed to disintegrate. I looked around thinking that it might have been someone\'s errant firework, but there was no sound and nothing followed to make me think of anything but a \"comet.\" I hope that someone else who was in the same area also saw it as it was beautiful!
Terminal flash
Observation Unknown
Remarks -
Fragmentation
Observation Unknown
Remarks -