Very bright meteor just seen!

[starfinder]

I just saw a very bright meteor streak across the sky. It was the most unusual one I've ever seen!

Believe or not, I first saw it in a 14mm eyepiece on my LX-90 8" SCT whilst observing Mars. I saw a bright flash of light just below Mars in the eyepiece at around 9:41pm Sg time, 0141 UTC 28 Feb 2012. Mars was then in the ENE in Leo at Azim: 79°41' Alt: +28°37'.

I immediately looked up and saw a bright dot of light, probably brighter than Mars (mag -1.2) and yellowish. It seemed to have the same apparent size as Mars, i.e. not a mere point of light.

This meteor was moving very slowly for a meteor, which I've seen before only as extremely fast moving streaks. However, it was much much faster than the ISS which I've seen countless times in Singapore. The meteor moved parrallel to the ground in the direction of the northeast, and covered a distance of about 40-50 degrees (i.e. into Ursa Major), taking some 10 seconds to cover that distance, which makes it extremely slow for a meteor. After it stretched into the left of the east-facing window which I was at, I ran to the north-facing window in the same room but did not see it anymore.

I did not see any trail or smoke or other particles left behind by the meteor.

I think it can be classified as a fireball:
http://www.imo.net/fireball

Was it an Earth grazer?

[Gary]

Wow. Congrats! So lucky!

[starfinder]

Thanks!

I've just submitted a report to the Fireball Data Center of the International Meteor Organization:
http://www.imo.net/fireball/report

Not sure if it's of much worth, but hopefully it would have some scientific value. Let's see if they reply to me...

Just to add, I did not hear any sound but there was a lot of ambient city noise.

So, was it an Earth grazer, anyone? I think so, since it moved so slowly and ran parallel to the ground.

See here for a photo of the famous 1972 daylight earthgrazer over the US:
http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap090302.html

[Airconvent]

wow...you have all the luck, Gavin! Last time I saw a really big fireball was at the Eunos field on my very first obs session with Singastro. It was a very bright green fireball that moved fairly slowly across the sky. Haven't seen one that bright since, even in Mersing. Do let us know how the FDCIMO replies.