what did I just see?

GRiM

GRiM

The Living Force


*about the 2:nd time, was at another location in the sky but still in my town.

Im guessing that its a meteor but I just wanted to check, It seems to have entered at such a odd angle.
Any thoughts?

Sorry for the image-quality, its only ground/sky and a bright flash/"line". (and some stars :)



edit: this is the first one I saw a year ago. This one did disapear faster then the one I saw yesterday (aka. #2), I would guess 0.2-3 seconds total. It was cloudy so it did have a softer and bigger illumination.


(found it on my computer so I can´t find a reason not to post it :)
 
You mean like a shooting star? I've seen about 2 since this summer as well, and I don't remember seeing any them time before this summer. Then again since finding SOTT I started looking at the night sky as well because of this meteor idea presented here.
 
No, I´we seen shooting stars quite a few times. Whatever this was it faded out in about a second. Shooting stars tend to be a bit faster :) I really think it was a meteorite.
 
shooting stars are little specks of light the size of the stars themselves. Meteors are usually a lot bigger. So if it was a lot bigger than a normal shooting star then I would say it was a meteorite. I've seen a couple myself over the past year or two and they correspond to your depictions.

Joe
 
Ah ok, the picture just reminded me of a shooting star, but if it lasted for about a second then thats too long. Probably a meteorite...
 
The reality of impending doom got very real when I saw the first one, gave me goosebumps and I experienced time slowing down (or attention speeding up )
 
this 'shooting star vs meteor' thing - am I missing something? surely a shooting star IS a meteor/meteorite?

it's just that some are smaller and some are bigger, so the smaller ones burn up in the atmosphere (meteor) and the bigger ones reach the ground (meteorite)
 
sleepyvinny said:
this 'shooting star vs meteor' thing - am I missing something? surely a shooting star IS a meteor/meteorite?

it's just that some are smaller and some are bigger, so the smaller ones burn up in the atmosphere (meteor) and the bigger ones reach the ground (meteorite)
Click to expand...
Yes I thought they were the same thing. I saw a meteor when I went for a trip down south last week. It was thick with a smallish tail, slowly moving across the sky for few seconds.

Also saw a couple of very fast moving flashes across the sky.

I thought it had to do with 1) the size of the meteor and 2)where in the atmosphere it was burning up.

JP.
 
sleepyvinny said:
this 'shooting star vs meteor' thing - am I missing something? surely a shooting star IS a meteor/meteorite?

it's just that some are smaller and some are bigger, so the smaller ones burn up in the atmosphere (meteor) and the bigger ones reach the ground (meteorite)
Click to expand...
That's my understanding as well. I was under the impression that shooting stars are the size of a grain of sand or so - and meteors/meteorites are larger. I was confused by the discussion stating that they were fundamentally different, but perhaps I too am missing something, or misunderstood the previous posts.
 
Perhaps the following information might be helpful:

From _http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/asteroid-facts.html

Asteroid
Naturally formed solid bodies that orbit the sun, have no atmosphere and no signs of gas or dust coming from them. Most are found in orbit between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Comet
Small bodies of rock, iron and frozen water and gases that orbit the sun in elliptical orbits. As they get close to the sun the gas vaporizes leaving a tail of dust and debris.

Meteor
Rock, iron and/or icy body entering the Earth's atmosphere...Also as shooting stars, are usually sized from a grain of sand to about a softball.

Meteorite
Any meteor striking the ground.

Meteoroid
A piece of comet debris. When the Earth enters a meteoroid stream left by a comet it produces a meteor shower.
Click to expand...
And, from: _http://ask.yahoo.com/20020226.html

When asteroids collide, meteroids, smaller rocky bodies, often result. Meteroids are also formed when a comet passes near the sun, and the heat releases dust particles from the comet's icy tail. When a meteroid or asteroid enters the Earth's atmosphere, it ignites, creating a visible streak of light called a meteor. If the object doesn't vaporize completely and crashes into the Earth, it's called a meteorite.
Click to expand...
And, from _http://www.aerospaceguide.net/whatisanasteroid.html

Asteroid: A relatively small, inactive body, composed of rock, carbon or metal, which is orbiting the Sun.

Comet: A relatively small, sometimes active object, which is composed of dirt and ices. Comets are characterised by dust and gas tails when in proximity to the Sun. Far from the Sun it is difficult to distinguish an asteroid from a comet.

Meteoroid: A small particle from an asteroid or comet orbiting he Sun.

Meteor: A meteoroid that is observed as it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere - a shooting star.

Meteorite: A meteoroid that survives its passage through the Earth's atmosphere and impacts the Earth's surface.
Click to expand...
fwiw
 
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