News & Politics

redshift40

Late on Saturday night, 2009 November 21, a very bright meteor was seen flashing across the sky from the northern parts of South Africa. Tim Cooper, Director of the ASSA Comet & Meteor Section, estimates that the apparent magnitude of the meteorite was -18. "I think it is highly likely it hit the ground somewhere north of our borders," Tim writes. He notes that the most northerly sighting came from north of Gweru, Zimbabwe. "Reports also from as far west as Rustenburg, and as far east as Ezulwini, Swaziland" were received, he writes. The size of the meteorite has been estimated as that of a rugby ball. Kos Coronaios has received several reports all of which describe something bright, seen around 23:00, moving from east to west (or south-east to north-west). One report Kos received even notes that a rumbling sound was heard, with trembles that caused paint to fall off a wall! He writes: "Reports of the event on Saturday (21/11) evening received so far this morning from: Pretoria, Tzaneen, Potgietesrus, Polokwane, Louis Trichardt, Levubu, Vivo, Alldays. "All consistent with a bright flash of light that was visible with no sound (except from the Vivo, Alldays region). Most sites were partly overcast in Louis Trichardt and from my location it was completely overcast with drizzle and all we saw was a bright light lasting perhaps a second or two and very bright. One observer in Pretoria (23:00) said that the light was green and that he saw a shooting star streaking accross the sky. "Another observer from Tzaneen mentions that this bright light flashed on and off three times. "My estimates of direction from the various reports was that the object was travelling east to west or possibly southeast to northwest. I was sitting at my desk with Jonas(A Swedish Grippen pilot from the Airforce base), looking northwards toward the Soutpansberg Mt when we saw the flash. The question of "what was that" prompted me to say lightning and we both looked at each and shook our heads, as we realised that it could not have been lightning. "Reports on times have all been consistent between 22:30 to 23:00, with Magda accurately putting it at 23:05." Johannesburg and Pretoria residents have come forward, claiming they spotted a meteor in the skies on Saturday night. People in Gauteng saw the bright light at around 11pm on Saturday night, heading towards the north of Pretoria. We saw this big green ball of fire. More..More..it kind of came out of the sky, out of the blue, one resident said. There was sudden flash. Like an orange stripe in the sky, followed by a very bright explosion where the sky lit up as if it was daytime, another explained. Astronomers and scientists are still trying to find out where the meteor landed. Ronnie McKenzie collects meteorites and said something like this is very rare. I would say it probably happens around two or three times a year around the world, he said. The meteor came in from the constallation of Leo/Geminii. The parent comet is p57 Swift-Tuttle and the earth passed through it's original orbit layed down in 1487. At that time, it was a NEW comet, and very bright as it was still intact from the time our solar system formed. A lot of the comet fragmentated after it passed close to the sun and fragmentated. This periodic comet passes the earth every 33 years.This chunk entered at an angle of 45deg from a NNW direction, came below the cloud cover and disappeared towards the WNW. These report come from reputable astronomers that reported this to me. I am surprised that no one reported a sonic boom, as it would have really shook the atmosphere.... Astronomer/ Research Scientist

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