Seen parts of comet

I live in the east put,of the USA,and last nite,went out about 10.00 till 12 and seen alot of meteors,one with a long tail,blue tail,one even just droped out of the sky.We even seen one blow up and looked the color of orange?,we are going out again tonite,the skys are clear in the east tonite,i'll post anything new,It was awsom to watch...

You saw one blow up? Amazing! I saw one do that maybe 14 years ago. It was truely one of the coolest things I've ever seen.

Where abouts are you located? Also, tonight could you give a more precise idea of where in the sky you're seeing these? This may help: Astronomy: So You See a Bright Light?

I've only seen two fireball meteors in my lifetime, and they were both surreal and stunning, in the most literal sens of the words. The first, I was walking with a group of friends in the city. I turned around for a second, and saw it coming in at about a 15 degree angle to the perpendicular of the horizon. I tried to say something, but was so shellshocked that I couldn't get anything to come out of my mouth.
The second time, I was driving home at night, and was reaching the top of one of the highest hills in the area. It was a cloudy night, and all of a sudden, the clouds to the left of my vision lit up in a flickering orange-white light. It was eerie.
We're going to get a better chance of seeing these sights as we pass through the fragmented field of comet 73p/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3. Well, so long as you don't get killed by a big one invest in a telescope..

[edit on 20-4-2006 by TheGoodDoctorFunk]

I remember seeing a decent fireball with my ex once back in 2000.
We just heard this 'whoomp' and a roaring sound and there was literally a fireball streaking downwards which then exploded. Amazing stuff.
I saw a not so spectacular but still amazing one in New Zealand last year, the sky over there is amazing as there is little light pollution and no smog or crap in the atmosphere. Everything's actually upside down though
And you can see a lot of tings you can't here, the Greater and Lesser Magellanic clouds are pretty cool

About 15 years ago when I was out trick or treating on halloween I saw a "fireball" shoot across the sky right in front of us. It was not far out in the sky, it was very close and very very cool. It was there for maybe two seconds then gone, I don't think it hit ground but it was not far enough up in the sky for it to burn up. At least I don't think it was.

Originally posted by payinblack

I live in the east put,of the USA,and last nite,went out about 10.00 till 12 and seen alot of meteors,one with a long tail,blue tail,one even just droped out of the sky.We even seen one blow up and looked the color of orange?,we are going out again tonite,the skys are clear in the east tonite,i'll post anything new,It was awsom to watch...

Hi

The blow u have seen is called "GlowWorms" and have been studied by fast LINDAR systems (as the 3.5 meter telescope at the Air Force Research Laboratory Starfire Optical Range (SOR).

This afterglows can last for 20 minuts and they can assume sveral shapes because of the high-altitude.

U have an clear sky for sure try using binoculars or an rich field telescope

ThX

Tonight i saw a fireball bright enough that i could see it while looking at a streetlight while at work. I get home and my dad tells me he saw a 15 second fireball crossing the sky west to east, chnaging colors, flaring up, and leaving a lasting trail.

Originally posted by DezertSkies
Tonight i saw a fireball bright enough that i could see it while looking at a streetlight while at work. I get home and my dad tells me he saw a 15 second fireball crossing the sky west to east, chnaging colors, flaring up, and leaving a lasting trail.

LUCKY U, tell me u live in the city? I can only have that kind of sky when i move my self out the "concreat ants" (it what i call the city) at least 80 miles.

If u get an scope u will be amazed with "above 6 magnitude".

Thx

Originally posted by DezertSkies
Tonight i saw a fireball bright enough that i could see it while looking at a streetlight while at work. I get home and my dad tells me he saw a 15 second fireball crossing the sky west to east, chnaging colors, flaring up, and leaving a lasting trail.

We're passing through the tail of Halley's Comet right now, which is producing the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. It peaks on the 6th, with 10-15 per hour.

A 15-second fireball is quite a long time for one, to be honest. Something like that would have light up the sky like the Moon, at least. Not to mention it would have been seen from from hundreds of miles around where it was above. I'll keep my eyes open for reports of something like that. Usually if there's even a remotely large fireball someone gets a picture/video of it and it ends up on SpaceWeather.

Around 1965 I was walking home after a Boy Scout meeting. It was after dark and I believe early fall. My friend Steve and I heard a crackling noise above and behind us and turned to see a meteor flying past overhead and disappearing behind trees beyond us. It was displaying orange and green flames and we could literally hear it... a mixture of crackling/popping sounds and a hissing/whooshing sound. A short time afterwoods there was an unusual smell in the air. We combed the woods for days afterwoods but could never find it.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid

Originally posted by DezertSkies
Tonight i saw a fireball bright enough that i could see it while looking at a streetlight while at work. I get home and my dad tells me he saw a 15 second fireball crossing the sky west to east, chnaging colors, flaring up, and leaving a lasting trail.

We're passing through the tail of Halley's Comet right now, which is producing the Eta Aquarid meteor shower. It peaks on the 6th, with 10-15 per hour.

A 15-second fireball is quite a long time for one, to be honest. Something like that would have light up the sky like the Moon, at least. Not to mention it would have been seen from from hundreds of miles around where it was above. I'll keep my eyes open for reports of something like that. Usually if there's even a remotely large fireball someone gets a picture/video of it and it ends up on SpaceWeather.

Not really for the human eye, yes it is true (10 sec at the most of unaided eye ) but this systems (LINDAR) can track this glow for 20 minuts.

Thx

Originally posted by undertopsecret
Not really for the human eye, yes it is true (10 sec at the most of unaided eye ) but this systems (LINDAR) can track this glow for 20 minuts.

Ah, yeah. That's the residual heat from it going through the atmosphere, I believe. I was saying that 15 seconds is a long time for it to be in the sky. That would cover a lot of distance in 15 seconds.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid

Originally posted by undertopsecret
Not really for the human eye, yes it is true (10 sec at the most of unaided eye ) but this systems (LINDAR) can track this glow for 20 minuts.

Ah, yeah. That's the residual heat from it going through the atmosphere, I believe. I was saying that 15 seconds is a long time for it to be in the sky. That would cover a lot of distance in 15 seconds.

Yes it is the glow, they say that the high-altitude winds shape theam, twisting their "glowworm". I was not speacking about comet or asteroid showers.

ThX

right now im north of pheonix and you can see a lot of showers maby 10-15 meteors every 30 miniutes.

iv seen a lot of weird stuff in the last 4 months doing research out here