[BAA-ebulletin 00632] BRILLIANT FIREBALL ON 7 DECEMBER 2011

[BAA electronic bulletins service]

BRILLIANT FIREBALL ON 7 DECEMBER 2011

Reports are coming in of a brilliant fireball, visible in twilight at about
16:07 UT on Wednesday, 7th December 2011.  The event occurred less
than 20 minutes after sunset so the sky was still very bright, but by a
fortunate coincidence it appeared in the same part of the sky as Jupiter and
the waxing gibbous Moon, both of which were visible at the time.

Sightings have so far only been received from observers in Kent, Essex and
Suffolk, but it is likely that the event would have been visible from most
of South-Eastern England, as well as across the Channel in Belgium and the
Netherlands.

According to Malcolm Beasley of Folkestone, Kent the fireball was "very
bright, much brighter than the Moon in the same area of sky and appeared a
brilliant white in still daylight, clear sky conditions. There was no
obvious sound associated with the sighting. It appeared to leave a very
short, high altitude, white vapour trail which slowly dispersed to the
 east."

Such sightings are comparatively rare since few fireballs are bright enough
to be visible in a very bright twilight sky.  Many areas of the South-East
had clear, cloudless skies late on the Wednesday afternoon in question.

Any BAA members who saw this event, or who may have been contacted by
non-astronomers who witnessed it, are asked to collect as much information
about the sighting as possible and send it either to the BAA Meteor
Section's Fireball Co-ordinator Len Entwisle at len.entwisle at btinternet.com
or to meteor at britastro.org.

Useful information will include the name and location of the observer, the
precise time of the event, the altitude and azimuth of the start and end
points of the visible track, the position of the observed track relative to
the Moon and Jupiter in the sky (if seen towards the south-east), and a
description of the fireball's appearance together with any unusual features.


This e-bulletin issued by:
John W. Mason, Director, BAA Meteor Section
2011 December 8