BRILLIANT METEOR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 25736, 6 January 1945, Page 6

BRILLIANT METEOR

OBSERVER’S CALCULATIONS (P.A.) HAWERA, Jan. 5. The first report from an astronomical observer of the meteor seen on Saturday night has come from a Hawera resident who was spending a holiday at Mokau. From what he saw of the meteor's course and from reports from the Wellington district, it is his view that the mass could not have struck the earth, that it was travelling at a speed somewhere in the vicinity of 50,000 miles an hour at a height of 80 or 90 miles, and that it was a body probably weighing thousands of tons, according to its density. He explained that the explosion reported to have been heard by Wellington district observers was the concussion of the meteor's entry into the atmosphere. The fact that the explosion was not heard until the meteor passed from view was accounted for by the time taken for the sound of the impact to reach the earth. The meteor was first seen at 8.45 p.m. as a bright star, gradually growing in size and brilliance as its course was traced from the south-west from Mokau to the east. It was visible for about 20 seconds, in which time, it is estimated, it travelled 300 miles. Calculations made by the observer from the angle of sight and the distance from Mokau to Castlepoint, where the meteor was last reported as having been seen, gave the figures of height and speed.

COURSE OVER NORTH ISLAND