While driving down the interstate heading home towards Cascade the bright light in the sky to my right hand side definitely caught my eye this was one of the longest and brightest fireballs I have gotten to witness in my lifetime. For this reasoning I was intrigued to see how many other people witnessed it and discovered this website of astronomical viewing events. The fragmentation as it entered the atmosphere was amazingly clear and getting to see such a site was pretty cool.
Location
Address
Cascade, MT
Latitude
47° 20' 15.42'' N (47.337618°)
Longitude
111° 37' 40.35'' W (-111.627874°)
Elevation
1025.479858m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2020-12-23 21:00 MST
UT Date & Time
2020-12-24 04:00 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
118°
Moving
Facing azimuth
220°
First azimuth
250°
First elevation
40°
Last azimuth
300°
Last elevation
20°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-10
Color
Light yellow faded to bright red then just black
Concurrent Sound
Observation
Unknown
Remarks
-
Delayed Sound
Observation
Unknown
Remarks
-
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
2s
Length
20°
Remarks
The train got wider and brighter as the fire ball came closer to the horizon.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
When the fire ball was at it’s brightest before it disappeared there was a bright flash of red and wide fragmentation that spread outward as it disappeared. You could definitely see the explosion of pieces behind the fireball.
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
The fragmentation itself, was hundreds of little red dots almost like a firework going off behind the fireball it was bright red and flashy in color.
