[meteorite-list] (Southern Arizona) Fireball

[Mark Bowling]

Just to cear up - I was just southeast of Tucson when I saw this.



----- Original Message ----
From: Mark Bowling <minador at yahoo.com>
To: meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
Sent: Tue, August 3, 2010 2:46:00 AM
Subject: Fireball

Hey all,
On Tuesday August 3rd, at approximately 12:58 a.m. I saw a bright fireball that 
broke up into five or six pieces.  I was driving directly south on Old Spanish 
Trail (in the Jeremy Wash/Rincon Creek area).  The fireball appeared in the 
vicinity of Iota Aquarius, and went south to about two degrees of Fomalhaut.  
Fortunately there were some good landmarks in the sky (but it took me a while to 

figure out which stars they were).  Its path was directly between those stars.  
I didn't hear anything because I had my window up.  I had a great view - it was 
very bright, but because of the moon, it was hard to judge just how much it lit 
the area up.  It was very awesome to say the least.

The track didn't seem to be too long, so it's possible it was falling at a very 
steep angle.  Maybe pieces made it to the ground in Arizona rather than Mexico.  

It also appeared that when it broke up, the pieces were traveling laterally, not 

in single file (not sure if that is significant).  Hopefully it was caught on a 
few cameras.  Please pass the word for people to check their cameras and the 
Doppler.  It should have been caught on Mt. Hopkins like Whetstone Mountains 
fall.  It also left a trail that glowed about 10 seconds, so hopefully that 
means something will show on the radar (?).

I'll probably be off line until next Monday, but I will try to check my email if 

you have any questions.

I'm hoping something is found!  Clear skies and happy hunting to all of you!

Mark Bowling
Vail, AZ