Quiet Firework or Near Meteor

[mishalak]

Last night while we stirred a small fire burning some garden waste and broken pine branches I looked up to see a bright white streak overhead. If it was a meteorite streaking across the heavens it was the brightest one I've ever seen. I could see individual white bits breaking off it for a moment before the whole object crumbled out of sight. It could have been a skyrocket, but if so it should have made a noise and I don't know where it could have been launched, as there are no roads near the direction it came from. So I suspect a pound or two of extraterrestrial stone came down upon our property or just to the north last night.

Comments

[bureinato.livejournal.com]

Isn't there a time of year, sometime in the summer, where there are a lot of meteor showers?

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

It's a bit early for the Perseid meteor shower, that peaks around August 11th-12th.

Sounds like Mishalak saw a random bright meteor. I saw one very similar over Scarborough back in 92 or so.

MC

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Being mistakenly called Tobes is a sign of something. Don't know what.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

My encroaching senility?

Heaven alone knows why I thought I was replying to a post by tobesv...

MC

[tobesv.livejournal.com]

Yeah, weird, its not as if I even post.

[bureinato.livejournal.com]

Right the Perseids. I always miss them and resolve that next year I'll be out there.

[whumpdotcom.livejournal.com]

Keep an sharp eye out for really small tripods.

If they ask, Tom Cruise is in Hollywood, and no, we don't mind if they zap him.

[golddustdreams.livejournal.com]

Oh wow. I've only seen a few meteorites in my life, and nothing was as gorgeous as that sounds.

I was so amazed when I saw my first shooting star. I would consider it a right of passage of sorts.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

All you need is a lot of time to wastespend looking at a fairly clear night sky. I see them occasionally even when I'm not looking for them as when I saw one when driving to Denver a year ago.

[golddustdreams.livejournal.com]

Denver is also at a much higher altitude than Michigan... west Michigan at least. And I'm right close to Grand Rapids, which adds a good deal of light to drown out the sky.

Now, up in the Upper Peninusla of Michigan, way at the very top where the highgrounds are... that's prime stargazing teritory. I love it up there. The Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula are essentially different worlds... especially considering the whole of the UP and a small portion of the northern LP is its own congressional district. :OP

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

1600 meters doesn't make a huge difference in star gazing. Mostly it is light pollution and Denver has plenty of that. The thing is that even with the light pollution in the city itself on the night of a meteor shower a dark backyard is still a fair spot to see a few bright ones.

[tobesv.livejournal.com]

Some of the non-shower ones can be quite large, and thus bright. You were lucky. Distance can be misleading though, so bits of it probably landed further away than you thought.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Possibly quite a bit, but it seemed to break up nearly overhead.