I am an amateur astronomer and studying physics at university of north carolina at charlotte. This was the coolest thing i have seen with my own eyes. Hoping i get to see something like this again.
Location
Address
Cary, NC
Latitude
35° 48' 47.27'' N (35.813131°)
Longitude
78° 48' 14.77'' W (-78.804102°)
Elevation
103.598709m
Time and Duration
Local Date & Time
2024-07-09 23:40 EDT
UT Date & Time
2024-07-10 03:40 UT
Duration
≈3.5s
Direction
Moving direction
From up left to down right
Descent Angle
139°
Moving
Facing azimuth
150.63°
First azimuth
124°
First elevation
51°
Last azimuth
170.57°
Last elevation
31°
Brightness and color
Stellar Magnitude
-11
Color
Orange, Yellow, Light Yellow
Concurrent Sound
Observation
Yes
Remarks
The closest thing i can describe the noise to be is when gravel is being driven over by a truck or car.
Delayed Sound
Observation
Yes
Remarks
The ending part was a slightly louder sound of the gravely noise and then a flatter sounding noise similar to something you hear when a plane goes by but more gritty.
Persistent train
Observation
Yes
Duration
1.5s
Length
15°
Remarks
The trail was an orange/yellow color that faded into a grey smoke trail. The “fade” happened in about 3 seconds where the orange/yellow lasting about 1 second and quickly fading into a dimmer yellow color then into grey smoke looking color.
Terminal flash
Observation
Yes
Remarks
At first we saw a very small shooting star for approximately .5 seconds but it turned into a blinding light that flashed across the sky. It ended with this huge bright light that got brighter and brighter then disappeared.
Fragmentation
Observation
Yes
Remarks
It did seem to fragment into very tiny different lights. The main part got brighter and brighter and there seemed to be other small lights (maybe 2-3) that came off of it like something you would see from a sparkler.
