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(meteorobs) Fireball Sat. Feb. 3, 2001

Greetings all,

Just wanted to post details of a fireball seen last Saturday, February 3, 
2001, and ask if there were reports of other sightings from locations east 
or southeast of Ottawa, Canada - possibly Quebec, Canada or northern New 
York state?

Pierre Martin and I had stopped by my brother's place on the Sunday morning 
on an errand, and got the following details from my brother.  We then tried 
to ask all the appropriate questions!

My brother and 13 year old nephew were driving home from a hockey practice 
in Kanata, Ontario, west of Ottawa, and saw a bright fireball at 8.29 pm 
EST that 'lit up the whole sky'.

My brother noted the time fairly precisely, as he knows I'm particular on 
this sort of stuff.  He described the fireball as orange, with an orange 
tail, and judging by daytime comparison to a streetlight pole, it seems to 
have been possibly 10 degrees long, with the head portion of the meteor 
being fairly large in apparent diameter.

Judging by the orientation of the road he was on (going east on Robertson 
Road, just west of Terry Fox in Kanata), the fireball seems to have been 
travelling in a northwest to southeast direction.  It became visible 
through the windshield of the car on the southeast stretch, and 'looked 
like it might have landed in Barrhaven'.  I assured my brother that this 
was an illusion, that it probably never landed at all, and quite probably 
travelled hundreds more miles before burning up.  Apparently my nephew was 
quite concerned, and asked 'Dad, where's our house from here?'  ;>

My brother was quite impressed with the sighting.  His first thought had 
been fireworks, but he said it took him only a second or so to realize that 
it was a fireball, and that he should tell me about it!  Pierre and I 
figured it must have been quite bright, to get that much notice while 
driving.  Venus right now is about magnitude -4.5, so to 'light up the 
whole sky' , it is possible that it may have been as bright as -10, roughly 
estimated.

Subsequent to my brother's report to Pierre and I, Pierre asked for reports 
on the OAOG mailing list (Ottawa Valley Astronomy and Observers Group), and 
found other reports, albeit less detailed:

- an observer in the Barley Mow Bar in Kanata seeing a fireball, 'the 
biggest' he'd ever seen, out the window, and asking if he had had one too many?

- an observer having dinner at a neighbour's place in Almonte, Ontario and 
glimpsing what looked like a fireball out the window, generally headed east

- an observer near Buckingham spotting a meteor that was 'red and on fire'

Other reports include:

- Pierre's uncle, a 911 dispatcher, seeing a bright fireball at exactly 
8.29 pm, from inside his house - described as an orange ball of light 
changing to blue on its path

- and a friend of mine, spotting a bright meteor while driving on the main 
street of Manotick, Ontario - described as travelling generally west to 
east, although she didn't note the time too well

Any other sightings of this would be appreciated!

I will be sending in a fireball report to MIAC, the Canadian authorities, 
on behalf of my brother.

Clear skies!

- Cathy Hall
   just outside Ottawa, Canada







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