Posted on 10/06/2002 7:09:52 AM PDT by blam
Sunday, 6 October, 2002, 10:33 GMT 11:33 UK
'Meteor' lights up Midlands
The object was seen shortly before 0600 BST
A burning object seen streaking across West Midlands skies on Sunday morning may have been a meteor, astronomers have said. The streaking fireball was seen heading south shortly before 0600 BST.
Its passage was followed by a bright flash which lit up the sky.
Sightings of the object were reported at sites including Coventry, England's south coast and Wales.
Andy Salmon, from the Birmingham Astronomical Society, said it may have been a meteor - space debris burning up in the atmosphere.
A meteor is a particle entering the Earth's atmosphere and burning up at high speed Many meteors are the size of a sand grain Larger objects do not burn up completely, hit the ground, and become a 'meteorite' He also suggested it may have been a man-made object, such a satellite re-entering the atmosphere, or a rocket being launched.
"Meteors can happen at any time... there's no predicting when it may happen," he said.
One witness said the object had a tail.
"All of a sudden I've seen this light streak across the sky... the front of the light was much larger than what you would call the tail," he said.
'Like a film'
The BBC's Ben Godfrey saw the fireball as he arrived at work.
"It was reminiscent of a meteor you might see in a film... it was huge," he said.
Local aviation authorities confirmed the object was not aircraft-related.
It has been an eventful period for the West Midlands in nature terms, with the region shaken by an earth tremor on 23 September.
| Designat. | NEAT name & Image | Disc. with NEAT/ | Date | Vel. (deg/day) | Mag. | Size in km (miles) | Orbit Visual. | Comment* |
| 2002 TY57 | SUOZAR | MSSS | 2 Oct | 0.2 | 20 | 0.5 (0.3) | orbit | Amor |
| SV8W73C | Palomar | 4 Oct | 0.7 | 20 | ||||
| 2002 TD58 | SV8WT0B | Palomar | 4 Oct | 3.1 | 19 | 0.1 (0.06) | orbit | Amor |
| 2002 TE58 | SV8YYVC | Palomar | 4 Oct | 0.5 | 19 | - | - | Not NEA |
| SVPVENA | Palomar | 5 Oct | 0.5 | 19 | ||||
*Amors, Apollos, and Atens are the three categories of Near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Amor asteroids approach the Earth's orbit from the outside, Apollo asteroids cross the Earth's orbit, and Aten asteroids approach the Earth's orbit from the inside. Potentially Hazardous asteroids (PHAs) are larger than ~200 m (0.1 mile) and approach close enough to present a potential hazard but not a current hazard.
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Are we near a 'swarm'?
Well, it's not unheard of....
LOL. I used to watch Dr. Who every Saturday night. What a hoot. (Loved it)
Don't know but, not likely. Maybe another? After the 1908 Tunguska event, people in London were able to read newspapers outside at midnight from the 'glow'.
It's caused by the Gulf Stream.
It probably won't be a single asteroid that gets us, but a swarm. Several smaller ones then one big one. Then several smaller ones, but who will notice?
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