Bolide over California 26MAR09
Photo by Larry Stange- YCSentinel
Moments ago... as I was observing the Orion Nebula through my SN8/LXD (8") Shmidt-Neutonian, I saw a white flash that lit up the aperature of the scope. Upon looking up toward Orion I saw a persistant trail lasting about 2 seconds and quite long (~7 degrees.). I summoned wife to watch telescope while checking the Sentinel camera to see if it got it too. It did! A SLOW and nice Bolide with a double explosion and apparent fragmentation products clearly evident however small they are. The Fireball was heading toward the Nebula but did not quite reach it from my location 35 miles North of Sacramento.
Event Date & Time: 20090326_2108:54 PDT
Duration: 3 seconds.
Double detonation with an eye visible train a full 3 seconds after
Start Azimuth: 213 Deg., End Azimuth: 233 Deg. True North.
Start Elevation: 47 Deg., End Elevation: 32 Deg.
Second image(scaled) shows where telescope was pointed on M42.
It was only a couple of degrees elevation from the 2nd detonation point. With an 8" F4 telescope at 65X, no eye damage would have occured but only one eye would have been useful for night vision the rest of the night. :-)
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Larry Stange- YCSentinel
