Ouachita Valley Astronomy League

Welcome to OVAL - the Ouachita Valley Astronomy League. The organization was founded by a group of amateur astronomers from a variety of professions who have an immense passion for the field of astronomy. Come and join the adventure!

Founded March 20, 2005
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OVAL is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of amateur astronomy and all areas associated with the discipline of astronomy.

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Yet Another Fireball Streaks Across the Daytime Sky!

Click HERE for photos of the fireball.

Mystery "Boom" Solved?

Monday, March 8 at approximately 5PM many residents across north Louisiana reported a loud noise that resembled a sonic boom. Reports began to file in to local law enforcement agencies as well as media. KNOE TV displayed a map that showed a tight cluster of reports running in a linear fashion from southeast of Shreveport to near Vidalia, Louisiana.

The initial possibilties were that a military jet caused the sonic boom or a meteor passing through the atmosphere at supersonic speeds (speed of sound is approximately 768 mph).

An email from a gentleman in Atlanta, Georgia provided excellent evidence of a meteor as being the culprit. His photo shows a "Noctilucent" cloud. This cloud is quite rare and usually requires a triggering mechanism - in this case meteor dust. Scant water vapor found some 50 to 60 miles in the mesosphere can condense on the dust particles forming the rare cloud which can be seen at great distances.

Reports were also received from news media/reporters at a CBS station in Memphis, Tennessee of witnessing the fireball. Another report from Bunkie, Louisiana near Alexandria also reported seeing the meteor move from west to east. In the Bunkie report, the meteor lacked a light source appearing as a grey mass with a smoke trail. If this is indeed the case, the space rock may very well have reached the ground.

Weather be "darned"! Once again, Mother Nature gave her best shot to destroy any attempts to observe. Clouds began to dissipate shortly before sunset providing nice skies. However, about two hours into observing, the clouds returned for good and we abandoned the cause around 11PM. We were able to see some good old favorites such as M13, crescent moon, Saturn with nearly edge on rings, and a great shot of the Lagoon Nebula in Scorpio. Jupiter made a brief appearance before the clouds took over.

A special thanks to Joe Rolfe at the Starr Homeplace for providing exceptional hospitality. On top of grilled hot dogs with all the fixins' he also fired up his new kitchen and made homemade pizza! While the viewing wasn't so good, the food was well worth the trip out.