The "plotting" thickens....

I have finished plotting the bearings from the fireball reports where bearings
noted including correcting transcription typos. So witness locations have
azimuth legs projected over the ground and one can see where they tend to
overlap. In Google Earth you can turn off the lines you wish by deselecting the
box by the file name. Track names in this case correspond to the AMS log for
event 371 a,b,c,and so on to t.

We now have a well documented photo through a telescope in Freeland, MD thanks
to Mike Hankey which can be viewed at <http://www.mikesastrophotos.com/> who
happened to be taking a timed exposure of known objects. The derived Az and El
for the track of the fireball from this location is AZ 73°, AL 63½°, and had a
bearing toward the east-northeast horizon courtesy of Kelly Beatty at Sky and
Telescope(TM). We also await the specifics from a security camera in York, Pa
in order to generate another precise azimuth.

Some reports still do not fit the over all data and frankly there are
information snipets a float which give credence for up to 4 different
trajectories/ground tracks. One which is emerging as the new leader is one
which carried the fireball towards York, PA but we still can't make a statement
if the it passed East, West or Over York. That is to say that it is looking
less likely that there was a direct East to West trajectory parallel to the
PA/MD State Line and ending over Maryland as I previously estimated.

Someone will announce when they have been uploaded to a website or if you need
it tonight email me off list.

Again this is a collection of reports that have been graphically rendered to
make them easier to evaluate. They were released to give a consolidated overlay
on a map. I placed a straight edge along the margins and looked for possible
tracks where reports agreed--That is where two adjacent witness locations agreed
that the fireball passed between them.

A final note on understanding elevations. Generally the closer you are to a
fireball's path the higher in the sky it will be. Those reports with low
elevations tend to be at a much greater distance.

Regards,
Elton
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