FIREBALLS LATEST

FIREBALLS LATEST

By Alastair McBeath, SPA Meteor Section Director

French meteor analyst Karl Antier has reported to us that a magnitude

-8 or so fireball was seen from places across western and northern

France on January 24-25 at 20:51 UT. It was also caught on video, as

can be seen via the link at:http://snipurl.com/ucps2  . The fireball was

observed in the southern sky from Le Havre, so it is possible the

meteor might have been spotted, probably low to very low in the sky,

from southern England. As yet, no comparable UK reports have been

received, however.

More recently, somewhat confused reports have come through,

suggesting possibly up to three separate fireballs were seen from Ireland

and/or Northern Ireland before 20h UT on February 3-4.

Much of this news came from media reports, suggesting there were
"hundreds" of sightings, though so far, very few usable observations
have been submitted to the Section. Of those sufficiently detailed to
tell, one report each from around 17:55-18:00 UT has arrived from
Co Armagh in Northern Ireland, and a little south of Dublin's city centre
in the Irish Republic. 

The Co Armagh observer saw the object in the northwest to

north-northwest sky, while the near-Dublin observer saw the fireball

pass behind buildings to the north-northeast, at a similar elevation above

the horizon to what the Armagh witness reported for the meteor's start.

If correct, these positions show the sightings must have been of different

meteors. That might suggest there were two fireballs, one off northwest

Ireland/Northern Ireland, the other off northeast Northern Ireland/

Ireland, the neighbouring Irish Sea, or adjacent parts of western Britain,

around ~18h. 

A further fireball, seen from parts of Ireland around 19:30-19:40, was
reported as apparently fainter than the earlier meteor(s), but almost no
information other than this has reached the Section about it as yet.

For the media weblinks and further discussion, see topics on the SPA's
Observing Forum topic at:

http://snipurl.com/ucsif ,and the UK Weather World's Space Weather

Forum at: http://snipurl.com/ucsim 

Claims of a video recording of the ~18h fireball have proven false, as 

this was imaged in 2008 apparently, and in some places online, it 

seems to have been shown in reverse anyway.