Meteor in the Show me State?

According to news reports, an exceptional meteor was spotted breaking up over my hometown of St. Louis this past Sunday. Some reports have claimed that impacts were witnessed, and some suspicious debree has apparently been found, but as of yet, I've yet to hear any confirmations that there are indeed, any extraterrestrial rocks.

Meteors, especially bright ones like this are one of my favourite astronomical events because, unlike so many other things, they're dynamic. Here one second, gone the next. Many other things considered "quick" in an astronomical time scales, like supernovae, still take days and changes can rarely be percieved from moment to moment.

I wish I could have seen this meteor. One of the first thigns that really turned me on to astronomy was a meteor I saw while riding my bike with a friend in 6th grade. It was very bright and lasted a long time for a meteor.

But perhaps the best one I've ever observed was at my previous school at their observatory for a star party with the Ozarks Amateur Astronomer's Club. This meteor was bright enough to cast shadows as it left a long smoke trail and hissed across the sky.