Jump to content
Underdog

Meteor?

Recommended Posts

Was out walking the dog this evening around 10 and saw what appeared to be a bright orange shooting star with a long orange, I guess you could say, segmented tail. It was racing almost horizontal as its trajectory went below the tree line and disappeared in the western sky. What struck me was the vibrant fiery orange and the way the "tail" appeared to be like a dashed, flickering line.




.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I heard someone mention Haleys comet. Not sure how true that is though.

 

Definitely not Haleys Comet or any comet for that mater. Haleys Comet is once every 75 years and it last came in 1986 or 87 I think. Most likely a meteor or space junk.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If it was Orange, it was most probably space junk that was burning and breaking up in the atmosphere. Another possibility is that it was a Bolide (aka meteoroid... note: NOT a meteor) which is a larger space rock that turns into a fireball as it speeds through the atmosphere. A bolide will usually be VERY bright and can also be audible as they zip through the atmosphere. I once witnessed a bolide that made a loud sizzling/crackling sound as it was burning up and flying through the sky. Pretty cool stuff. Meteors (what most people refer to as a "shooting star") are normally very small pieces of rock (sometimes as small as a grain of sand) and usually have a greenish color and a greeenish streak as they hurtle through the atmosphere.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Cool fact, Did you know that it is not friction that that causes things to burn up on reentry, like is commonly believed? While the friction will heat up an object, the friction produced by the air relatively minor, and gets no where near hot enough to melt rocks or metal. The actual culprit is Ram Pressure,  the compression of the air by an object. The air itself rapidly being compressed becomes supper heated, which in turn heats up the object past its melting point, as it passes through that superheated air.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    No registered users viewing this page.



×
×
  • Create New...