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Just saw a big shooting star

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  • 23-06-2009 4:11am
    #1
    mk6705
    Registered Users Posts: 721 ✭✭✭


    Hi,
    I'm not hugely into astronomy. I mean I like to look at the sky and often look for satellites at night but I don't study it or know alot about things in the sky. Anyway now being around the longest day of the year it was quite bright so I went out to take some photos (at about three in the morning). So I looked up at the sky and there was a pretty big shooting star, bigger than any I've seen before. It had a trail and it was pretty bright (My eyes were actually drawn to it.) It happened a bit after 20 past 3 and lasted for about 5 to 6 seconds. So anyway, the main thing I want to ask is, did I see something rare?


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    #2
    NickFromTipp
    Registered Users Posts: 25 ✭NickFromTipp


    Nice one. Bright shooting stars are not rare but you might have to get in a good few hours of viewing time to see a good one. In general, after midnight is the best time as you'll be back on the leading edge of the earth as it is orbiting the sun. Also during meteor showers. These are usually caused by the earth passing through the trails of dust left behind by comets' previous orbits.

    Best one I saw was with my brother about 18-odd years ago. Were parking up the car after coming back from a disco and saw this big ass fireball above our heads. The trail persisted for about 1 minute. It was deadly.


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