[meteorite-list] re: UK fireball

From: Marco Langbroek <marco.langbroek_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Sep 27 12:50:11 2004
Message-ID: <003301c4a4ac$bcf72460$9600000a_at_HAL>

> The fireball reported over England on Friday (24th September) appears to
> have traveled from Northern England/Ireland all the way down the country
> and the most southerly report appears to be from Poole in Dorset, which
> is right on the south coast.

Please do not make the same mistake as was made with the January 4th fireball
over Spain: the fact that it was reported from southern England does not mean it
traveled OVER southern England. A fireball traveling 500 north of you can well
be seen by you. The distribution of locations of sighting is NOT the same as the
trajectory path of the fireball! The area over which it can be seen is much
wider than the actual trajectory length.

A distance traveled from Northern Ireland to southern Dorset and hence a
trajectory of over 500 km is not entirely impossible for a meteor (there are
precedents), but it would be VERY unusual.

- Marco

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Marco Langbroek
Dutch Meteor Society (DMS)
Leiden, the Netherlands
52.15896 N, 4.48884 E (WGS 84)

e-mail: meteorites_at_dmsweb.org
DMS website: http://www.dmsweb.org
priv. website: http://home.wanadoo.nl/marco.langbroek
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Received on Mon 27 Sep 2004 12:12:07 PM PDT