Satellite coming down or a shooting star???

[Ron Avery]

Because it was hot the night before last, 20 june, I sat outside and watched the stars.  We are south of Villefranche de rouergue.  Just before midnight, there was large specific flash in the sky directly overhead as if something had exploded a long way up in the sky  (it was not lightning). Just minutes afterwards, from the south to north, there was an object (not a plane, much much faster), moving very quickly across the sky, it was exactly just like watching one of those films where a shuttle re-enters the atmosphere, it had a "bow wave" of liit up air at the front ,  My wife saw it also so I was not dreaming

Did anyone else see anything in the SW that night?  Has anything been reported in the French press, I have not seen anything myself.

also posted in leisure section

[Dick Smith]

Do you mean in the SW of France or in the SW sky? There were several meteor showers more or less overhead (but I'm afraid I'm using Rouen as my location).

It could have been the Ursids (most likely), the June Bootids, the Quadrantids, Kappa Cygnids, Draconids or the Lyrids - lots of showers overhead on the 20th!

 

I use a piece of software called Starry Night Backyard - it gives me a view of the sky from any location and identifies all sorts of stuff, from satellites to the Moon.

 

Lots in August, including the Perseids.

[Punch]

One of the real pleasures of living in rural France is the night sky, with absolutely no light pollution. Lying on a sunbed, gazing skywards on the patio with a glass of your favourite tipple is a wonderfull way to escape

Dick, that software looks interesting - just found a free trial which can be downloaded here;

http://downloads.zdnet.co.uk/0,39025604,39049422s,00.htm

Paul

[Ron Avery]

Dick it was not a meteor shower it was a single object, I thought it was a satellite or a bit of a space staion burning up entering the atmosphere.  It went south to north almost overhead, so it would have come over Albi going towards Figeac, Auriallac.  and I was not drunk

[PaulC<P><IMG src="http:forums.livingfrance.comimagesline.gif"><BR>Paul, Debbie and Josh, <BR>London & Dept 24<BR><a target=_blank href="http:www.les-brandes.net" target=_blank>http:www.les-brandes.net<A><BR><P>]

if it took a few minutes to go over from Horizon to Horizon it was a satellite, there's loads up there that you can watch fly over including the int space station - most are easy to see even from London !.

if it was a short line / flash then chances are it was a meteor, they come in all the time and most of the time you will see the just the odd one and not big groups - it's great to watch these things flying about and the software mentioned above is v good !!

Happy Star Watching !

[Dick Smith]

It needn't be a lot of meteors in a shower - I saw a large one from the Perseids two or three years ago which looked just like a contrail and covered about a quarter of the distance from horizon to horizon, then nothing for an hour.

[Guillaumy]

Hi Ron,

Don’t know if you saw this:

 

A Russian attempt to launch a solar sail vehicle designed to be propelled by pressure from sunlight has failed.

The mission collapsed because the booster rocket suffered engine failure soon after it blasted into space, the Russian space agency said today.

The launch late yesterday was part of a joint Russian-US project attempting the first controlled flight of a solar sail.

 

A news report in “The Scotsman” Wed 22 Jun 2005

May not be the Rosé after all!!

Regards,

Robert