Reports Report 451ev (Event 451-2015)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | julian b |
| Experience Level | 2/5 |
| Remarks | It was more orange than the moon, so it is hard to say whether it was as bright, but maybe. It looked about as bright as the brightest planet in the sky at about 6 times its diameter. I did not hear any sounds. Although i was outside of the car by the time it passed overhead, at about the exact same time, a semi truck zoomed by right beside me. When it disappeared, I got into my car and kept going, so I could have missed the sound. Initially, the fireball appeared as a dot, just a few degrees west of south (over Calgary, AB). I was on HW2 southbound. I consider myself pretty lucky to have seen this. I have seen fireballs in the sky, but they were always a lot further away and smaller, and never appeared fragmented like this one. And definitely not as orange. It was stellar! |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Didsbury, Alberta (CA) |
| Latitude | 51° 36' 2.66'' N (51.600739°) |
| Longitude | 114° 5' 43.14'' W (-114.095317°) |
| Elevation | 1045.372314m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2015-02-23 22:56 MST |
| UT Date & Time | 2015-02-24 05:56 UT |
| Duration | ≈45s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up left to down right |
| Descent Angle | 175° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 180° |
| First azimuth | 182° |
| First elevation | 12° |
| Last azimuth | 296.86° |
| Last elevation | 52° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -15 |
| Color | Orange |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Duration | 8s |
| Length | 18° |
| Remarks | I didn't see smoke, probably because it was dark and there was no sunlight. The glowing streak may have appeared in about 18 degrees of the sky at it's longest length. Initially, i saw the fireball far in the south sky appearing as a glowing dot getting bigger. |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | As the fireball traveled through the sky, it left a trail of fireballs behind it that decreased in speed and luminosity as the lead fireball continued to travel. When the fireball was leaving its longest streak, just as it was closest to me and just before it disappeared, it was traveling at maybe 5 degrees per second. Every 3 or 4 degrees of travel (less than the diameter of the moon), it would release a bright fireball and then a series of dimmer fireballs. So the trail looked like a big dot followed by 3 or 4 degrees of smaller dots, and another big dot, followed by 3 or 4 degrees of smaller dots... etc. For about 8 of these before all the dots faded away, with the smallest dots fading first. I didn't notice a terminal flash, but i just assumed that it continued on past earth. I could be wrong though. Maybe it landed in Slave Lake, AB area with the direction it was going. |