[AZ-Observing] bolides on Saturday night (April 25-26)

So did anyone on the list see any of the bolides that occurred - 
apparently mostly in northern AZ - this past Saturday night?  I say "any 
of the bolides" as reports in the Arizona Daily Sun (
http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/04/28/news/20090428_front_195338.txt 
- and see comments)  and a blog from Jeff Hall at Lowell Observatory (
http://www.lowell.edu/users/jch/sss/blog/) indicate there were several 
extremely bright and exploding meteors, including ones at "9:30-10", 
~10:30, 10:45, "11-11:15", and "11:30".
Dave Frisk and I were observing from his home near Williams, AZ, and saw 
the sky light up at 11:04:30 PM MST (+/-20 sec).  That matches the 
"11-11:15" period reported as well as the 12:04 MDT time of images and 
sonic recordings from New Mexico (see links below).  I was looking down 
into my eyepiece case and for about 2 seconds the entire sky and ground 
lit up with a "flashing" sequence, and some bright yellow color at the 
end.  I thought someone was playing with a very bright flashlight, but 
then realized it was a probably a bolide.  I looked up but saw no meteor 
or even a meteor train.  Dave fortunately was looking up into the sky and 
indicated the entire sky had lit up, but the light seemed to be mostly 
coming from the east - which would match the other reports as something 
occurring in the Flagstaff/Sedona area.

In any case, it's obvious some of the reported times may have been wrong, 
but there sure appears to have been more than one event.  From my own 
recollection it sounds unusual to have a "shower" of a number of bright 
bolides like this over an extended period.

There is other info / articles at:

http://www.heliotown.com/Fireball_April_26_2009_Ash.html

http://newmexicoindependent.com/25970/sandia-labs-camera-catches-meteor-near-gallup

http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/04/27/Search-for-meteor-in-Arizona/UPI-33901240875942/

http://www.azdailysun.com/articles/2009/04/27/news/20090427_front_195312.txt

http://ktar.com/?nid=6&sid=1142231

- Brent


--
See message header for info on list archives or unsubscribing, and please 
send personal replies to the author, not the list.

Other related posts: