Howdy all,

We had a rather bright meteor streak across the southern Canadian prairie last night. It was visable across a wide area from Manitoba, through central Saskatchewan and even into parts of eastern Alberta.

Some people say it lit up their end of the sky for as long as 5-6 seconds. Very bright.

Would this have been a meteor of a certain show (Beta Leonid, etc) or just a random thing? If its part of a shower, any chance we'll see more tonite?

Thanks to anyone who can fill in the blanks.

__________________
'I don't know if I even have an aura, man. I just try to win.'
Tiger Woods

Hi Peter

Well, to a degree it depends on what direction the meteor was coming from... the Virginids are close to maximum at the moment (around the 24th) but that's only a minor shower, perhaps 5-10 an hour. However, that's not to say that one of those would be bright and long-lasting.

Personally, I'd put my money on it being a random chunk of rock entering the Earth's atmosphere... perhaps it was something that NEO recently left behind? LOL

__________________
"The stars are my home"
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe... Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion... I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark, near the Tanhauser Gate... all those moments will be lost, in time... like tears in the rain..."

Perhaps it was a piece os space junk?


I know it was Chook returning from MArs!!! a little way off target for the Aussie east coast

__________________
Damien,
International Baccalaureate Physics teacher
Spectroradiometry Instrumentation Major
Admin: Pacific Science and Art

Update on the streak of light.

The opinion seems to be that it was a meteor. Now there are hundreds of farmers in the east-central part of Saskatchewan who think it landed in their field and they are on the look-out for a small rock that is black, a little shiny, and may be in a small crater?

Its spring thaw in those parts so the ground is still a little frozen and there is a good chance the 'rock' didn't bury itself on impact.

Nice for the farmers to have something to talk about other than the weather, crop prices, and BSE.

__________________
'I don't know if I even have an aura, man. I just try to win.'
Tiger Woods

I'd opt for the random chunk explanation, too - except we saw several meteors in the Northern Virginia area last Friday night. It may be that we're hitting the center of the Virginid trail this year.