Large Fireball Witnessed over Ireland

Is there many Sky Cameras around the country that could have picked something up?

On advice this morning on the matter, the best thing to do with any pieces found is to report them to Armagh Observatory.
They are the experts on minor solar system objects in this country.
www.arm.ac.uk/index.html


Deirdre Kelleghan
Vice Char IFAS
Outreach IFAS
National Coordinator Astronomers Without Borders Ireland .
www.irishastronomy.org/
www.deirdrekelleghan.com/
twitter.com/skysketcher

Will the Armagh Observatory keep it or will they confirm it is from space and ask if they can do tests on it?

Is it 'Finders Keepers' when it comes to items falling from the sky? Or does it depend on if it lands on Public or Private Lands? If its Public does that mean it belongs to the state and if its private it belongs to the owner?

Apart from the heat or getting hit by a meteor, is there any other dangers from them? i.e. radiation?

I didnt find anything, but would love to!!

Graham

Is there many Sky Cameras around the country that could have picked something up?

We were shown an all sky meteor camera array in Armagh Observatory during our visit there last summer. Do not know if it was operational or if they had clear skies or not. I assume that if they had data we would have known by now though.

Michael. KAC

I am not sure what they would do with a piece , but I feel strongly that a scientific body
would be best to deal with, study , and make statements on matters of this kind.

As far as I know if something like this falls in your land , its yours.
If it falls on you , you are in trouble especially if it was the size of the Willamette
meteorite 15 tons !! ( see below) but I am sure there is no danger from radiation from
pieces that may have landed here.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willamette_Meteorite


Dee and friend Linda at the Willamette Meteorite




Back of the Willamette Meteorite at the American Museum of Natural History

Deirdre Kelleghan
Vice Char IFAS
Outreach IFAS
National Coordinator Astronomers Without Borders Ireland .
www.irishastronomy.org/
www.deirdrekelleghan.com/
twitter.com/skysketcher

My all-sky camera didn't bag anything at that time on the 3rd Feb, though if it lasted more than 10 seconds it would have been automatically dropped as not being meteoric. It may have been cloudy here at that time - I can't remember.

I did bag a real stonker of a fireball on 30Jan at 20:42 travelling NE-SW lasting 4 seconds - left a nice trail! Also a head-on flash at 05:23 on the 30th, and another bright fireball last night at 02:55, again moving NE-SW.

I'm not 100% certain of how dim the camera can pick up meteors, but it can pick out the brighter stars without any difficulty, so I reckon zero magnitude or brighter is a reasonable claim.

Phil.