[BAA-ebulletin 00766] BRILLIANT FIREBALL WITH PERSISTENT TRAIN ON 14 OCTOBER 2013

[BAA electronic bulletins service]

BRILLIANT FIREBALL WITH PERSISTENT TRAIN ON 14 OCTOBER 2013

Reports are coming in from Northern Ireland and Scotland of a brilliant
fireball, visible between 20:42:12 and 20:42:37 UT on Monday, 14th October
2013.

The event was imaged by Marcus McAdam from the Isle of Skye over Red Cullin.
Amazingly, Marcus didn't actually witness the event himself because he had
left his camera set-up and running taking a timelapse sequence while he went
to have dinner at a nearby hotel!

See Marcus's lovely image by following this link:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=569483046438616&set=a.42102661128426
1.109587.371383149581941&type=1
 
>From the Isle of Skye the fireball descended from Pisces into Cetus and so
was visible in the south-eastern sky. Cloud permitting, it would have been
well seen from Glasgow and Edinburgh and locations such as Dumfries and
Galloway as well as the Isle of Man and sites across the north and west of
England. 

Visual sightings have so far only been received from a limited number of
observers in Northern Ireland and Scotland, but more observations are
urgently required, particularly any images of the event. Marcus McAdam's
timelapse image sequence reveals that the fireball left a persistent train
that was visible for 13 minutes after the event. Maybe some observers saw
the train even though they missed the fireball itself?

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 background stars (if possible), and a description of the fireball's
appearance together with any unusual features such as the persistent train.


This e-bulletin issued by:
John W. Mason, Director, BAA Meteor Section
2013 October 18