Reports Report 547z (Event 547-2015)
| Observer | |
|---|---|
| Name | Tony M |
| Experience Level | 1/5 |
| Remarks | I was taking an evening walk in my small foresty town, in a residential sparsely populated area with 0 street lights. While walking, I saw my shadow in front of me, thinking it was a car approaching from behind, since the light cast a greater shadow than the more than half-full moon. This lasted about 3 seconds, until I realized my shadow moving vertically as well as horizontally. Whatever the angle, it didn't seem like it was a car. As I turned I saw my first fireball! It lasted a remaining 1-2 seconds with fragmentation and left me paralyzed for half a minute (and I've seen hundreds of shooting stars before). Thank you for this website that I discovered while looking for something that resembled what I saw, since I thought it might be an airplane exploding. |
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Address | Garden Valley, ID |
| Latitude | 44° 6' 42.88'' N (44.111912°) |
| Longitude | 115° 59' 14.14'' W (-115.98726°) |
| Elevation | 972.454712m |
| Time and Duration | |
|---|---|
| Local Date & Time | 2015-02-28 20:30 MDT |
| UT Date & Time | 2015-03-01 03:30 UT |
| Duration | ≈3.5s |
| Direction | |
|---|---|
| Moving direction | From up right to down left |
| Descent Angle | 247° |
| Moving | |
|---|---|
| Facing azimuth | 8.94° |
| First azimuth | 20.67° |
| First elevation | 43° |
| Last azimuth | 8.25° |
| Last elevation | 41° |
| Brightness and color | |
|---|---|
| Stellar Magnitude | -16 |
| Color | Blue, White |
| Concurrent Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Remarks | - |
| Delayed Sound | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | I heard a distant low frequency boom that lasted .5-1.0 seconds, but it was about 1 min after the fireball and may not be related |
| Persistent train | |
|---|---|
| Observation | No |
| Duration | - |
| Length | - |
| Remarks | - |
| Terminal flash | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | By the time I turned to see it, it was beginning its terminal explosion, breaking off into pieces of bright blue and white, but I can't compare the brightness since I turned around just in time to see the final show |
| Fragmentation | |
|---|---|
| Observation | Yes |
| Remarks | The fireball broke into pieces, maybe 2 or 3, the biggest falling out of the main trajectory and veering half on course and half towards the ground, slowing down from the rest, like a car getting off the freeway. |