Fireball!

Last month I was lucky to witness one of the more exciting events in the sky – a daytime meteor or fireball. Fireballs are just very bright meteors – typically brighter than Venus in the night sky or bright enough to be seen in daylight. At our home in Atlanta, I just happened to walk out on our deck around 6:45 on February 7th. I saw what at first looked like a bottle rocket streak across the sky. It left a smoky trail that dissipated rapidly and made no sound. I was so excited I had to tell someone so I tweeted the event – typing the wrong time in the excitement. The Atlanta Journal later picked up the event which was also recorded on NASA’s network of all sky cameras. You can learn more about fireballs at the American Meteor Society webpages.