I live in Patterson, CA and last night about midnight the sky literally lit up. Something fell from the sky burning up the landed I guess, the whole sky turned a bright blue then white.... does anyone know what this could have been? Did anyone else see it?
2007-08-11 07:01:08 · 9 answers · asked by Emma M 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Here is some info from Spaceweather.com
Space Weather News for August 9, 2007
http://spaceweather.com
The Perseid meteor shower has begun. Although the display will not
peak until
August 12th and 13th, sky watchers are already counting as many as a
dozen
meteors per hour (including some nice fireballs) during the darkest
hours before
dawn. Rates could increase 5- to 10-fold when the shower reaches
maximum on
Sunday night and Monday morning. Advice: Get away from city lights.
While many
Perseids will be bright enough to see from light-polluted urban
areas, the
shower's full grandeur is reserved for places with dark and starry
skies. This
is a good weekend to go camping.
Visit http://Spaceweather.com for photos, observing tips and a sky
map. Full
coverage of the shower begins today and will continue until Perseid
activity
subsides.
2007-08-11 09:01:52 · answer #1 · answered by B. 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You saw what they call a fireball. It was most likely one of the larger Perseid meteoroids, but probably not more than football size. At an entry speed of 30 miles a second, something that size will light up the sky on entry.
Generally, anything smaller than several meters wide will vaporize and not reach the ground.
soemthing 50 meters wide, would blast in the atmosphere as big as an atomic bomb and you would be blinded then blown away by the blast.
But they are very rare - last one recorded was 1908 over Siberia. Look up Tunguska in www.wikipedia.com.
2007-08-11 09:25:45 · answer #2 · answered by nick s 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
You most likely witnessed a piece of an asteroid that didn't get burned up entirely in the earth's atmosphere. It happens all the time. Just most of the time, it happens in places on the earth where people are not currently living or are sleeping and also a lot of them happen in daylight and you cannot see them burning then unless they are really big.
2007-08-11 07:10:36 · answer #3 · answered by 'Sunnyside Up' 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I live in Idaho I seen it to it let a huge trail across the sky it was close enough I could see it breaking up in the atmosphere freaky iv never seen one that close before
2015-02-24 04:20:27 · answer #4 · answered by Jordan Reeder 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
if u seen a what i think u seen u are REALLY REALLY lucky!!!
I looked but dont remember what this phenomenon is called.... all i know is that ur chances of seeing it is really small. I learned about it at an observatory when i was in school...crap what was it called.....im going to keep looking and get back to u
2007-08-11 07:46:17 · answer #5 · answered by pandasex 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Could've been a star, a meteror or an astroid. Maybe even a comet or lightening.
2007-08-11 13:07:27 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It could have been a big meteor. But probably not big enough to reach the ground. It probably vaporized before hitting the ground.
2007-08-11 07:05:38 · answer #7 · answered by campbelp2002 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
It could have been a lot of things. Call your local university and ask them about it. They may send a crew to get it, and then you'll know.
2007-08-11 07:05:34 · answer #8 · answered by Evil Genius 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I saw it to pretty freaky
2015-10-11 11:16:02 · answer #9 · answered by Tim Garcia 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋