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Fireball - 2003 February 21 2201 UT |
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Several observers in southern England saw this event on a clear, slightly hazy Friday evening. Sightings were made by Andy Burns of the Wiltshire AS at Lacock, Bill Worraker (Oxford), David Chilard, Colin Thomson and Trevor White (Worthing AS, Goring-by-Sea) and Robin Gorman of Hampshire AG at Clanfield. The meteor was described as yellow-green in colour, slow-moving and flaring to as bright as magnitude -6 by observers to the west. At Clanfield - presumably closest of the observing locations to the fireball - the meteor appeared brighter than the Full Moon, and was followed after an interval of about three minutes by a sonic boom. Fragmentation into several ‘blobs’ occurred in flight, with the individual pieces leaving an orange trail. From Wiltshire and Oxford, the fireball was seen in the southeastern sky, while the Goring observers saw it in the high northwest. A rough track heading SSE over the English Channel from the Isle of Wight seems reasonable.
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