Fireball spotted over Elkridge
Dennise Cardona writes with the following report. Did anyone else see this meteor?
Hi, I saw something this morning, October 21, 2008, in the sky that I thought was strange, and was wondering if anyone else has reported seeing the same thing. At 5 a.m. on Tuesday morning, I saw a fireball in the sky over Elkridge, MD. I was looking down at first, as I was running, and the sky lit up like it would in a lightening storm, that?s when I looked up and saw and object the size of a softball (scaled compared to the size of the stars behind it) far up in the distant sky explode in a yellow/white bright light, then shoot upwards, leaving a foot long trail of white behind it before disappearing into a thin trail of dust.
Just curious if anything has been reported on this?
FR: Quite likely part of the annual Orionid meteor shower, which peaked this morning. Not normally a big deal, the Orionids were supposed to have been an even less impressive show this year because of the bright moon currently in the early morning sky. But they have been surprising observers in recent days with an unusually vigorous display. The Orionids are named for the constellation Orion, from which the meteors appear to radiate. They are bits of dust left behind by Halley's Comet, which last visited the inner solar system in 1986. They may remain active for another day or two, so early-morning joggers and dog walkers should keep an eye peeled before dawn. You can read more, and see several photos, here.
The photo below shows an Orionid meteor, snapped this morning in Poland by Przemek Zoladek and used with his permission. The big white light is the moon. And here's link to a video of a fireball similar to the one described above, taken this morning in California. Notice how it lights up the area near the final explosion.
Comments
My father seen the same thing in essex where we live about a wk ago i guess its moving all around the sky's lol
Posted by: Margie | October 21, 2008 3:00 PM
My wife saw one lastnight around 1130 we live in middle river
Posted by: Carl Bowyer | October 21, 2008 3:14 PM
I believe i saw the same meteor just around 5 am in wilmington, delaware - i noticed the lawn and trees brightening up, looked to the sky, and saw a streak of light that faded just a moment later
FR: Sounds like the same one Dennise saw.
Posted by: thom labarbera | October 21, 2008 3:33 PM
If this photo was taken this morning, why does the moon appear to be full? The moon this morning was half and waning. Is the moon full in Poland?
FR: Looks like overexposure. The moonlight just overwhelmed the camera's CCD while it recorded the (much dimmer) meteor's flight..
Posted by: Karl | October 21, 2008 4:16 PM
Not sure if it was part of the Orionid shower, but I saw one at about 6 am last Friday in Fulton. I was driving to work and saw a really bright streak in the sky to the west of me.
Posted by: brian | October 21, 2008 7:33 PM
I saw the same thing up here in Morgantown PA. I've been looking to see if anyone else saw this. It was quite different than the normal shooting star, I don't recall ever seeing one, well, explode before. I was wondering if was Space Junk or worse...Oh No... Not my Dish network. lol...Anyway Glad to see that I was not the only one that saw it.
Posted by: Tom | October 23, 2008 7:15 PM
I live in Hampstead, Maryland. I walk 2 miles every night in my neighborhood. Around 7:00 - 7:15 on Tuesday night, November 18, 2008 I was walking and suddenly something caught my eye in the sky. It was like a shooting star but much brighter and it definetly had a burning white light at the end of it. It shot across and went down and disappeared behind trees in the woods. It also made a sound that lasted a second or so. It was a very clear sky Tuesday night - so this was very visible. It was awesome to see. After I saw it I just stood there in awe for a little while. Not something you get to see.
Posted by: Debbie | November 19, 2008 12:13 PM
What is that bright light in the sky over Baltimore County tonight and last night, March 5th and 6th, 2009? It is very bright but not moving.
FR: Can't be sure, since you don't say which way you were looking. But if you were looking toward the west, you were seeing the planet Venus. It has put on quite a show in the west, after sunset, all winter.
Posted by: Rosalyn Tatekht | March 5, 2009 8:40 PM