[Baa-ebulletin 00543] BRILLIANT FIREBALL OF 2010 DECEMBER 8

[BAA electronic bulletins service]

BAA e-bulletin, 2010 Dec. 11

BRILLIANT FIREBALL OF 2010 DECEMBER 8

Reports are coming in of a brilliant fireball seen on the evening of
Wednesday, 8th December 2010 at around 17:40 UT.  A more precise time for
this event has still to be determined.

Sightings indicate that the fireball was visible over an extremely large
area of the country, with reports being received from locations as far apart
as Bath, Northampton, Leicester and the Isle of Man.

The peak brightness of the fireball was in excess of magnitude -8, and
eyewitnesses report that the object fragmented towards the end of its
trajectory.

Further reports of this event are urgently required. Did you see this
fireball yourself, or do you know of someone else who saw it?  Those
belonging to local astronomical societies are asked to enquire of other
society members whether they witnessed the event. Please take care not to 
bias eyewitnesses beforehand by discussing with them what you or others saw.

Reports should contain some or all of the following information:

1) Name, address and contact details of the observer.

2) Date and time of the event in UT (GMT), as accurately as this can be 
specified.

3) Location of the observer when witnessing the fireball.  If driving a car
please specify the road, location and the direction the observer was 
driving.

4) The path of the fireball against the background stars, as accurately as 
this can be described.  If this is not possible, then please try to answer 
questions 5) and 6) below:

5) The compass direction and altitude (in degrees) of the fireball when it 
was first seen.

6) The compass direction and altitude (in degrees) of the fireball when it 
was last seen. Please state if something obscured the view of the end (e.g. 
if it went behind a tree or a building).

7)  A general description of the colour and appearance of the fireball, 
whether this changed during the trajectory and any terminal burst or 
break-up at the end.

Please send in your completed reports as soon as possible.

John Mason
email: docjohn at dircon.co.uk


51 Orchard Way, Barnham, West Sussex PO22 0HX