NASA Spies Lunar Meteoroid Impact SPX Jun 16, 2006 Huntsville, AL - There's a new crater on the Moon. It's about 14 meters wide, 3 meters deep and precisely one month, eleven days old - and NASA astronomers watched it form. "A meteoroid hit the Moon's Sea of Clouds (Mare Nubium) with 17 billion joules of kinetic energy - that's about the same as 4 tons of TNT," said Bill Cooke, the head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center. "The impact created a bright fireball, which we video-recorded using a 10-inch telescope." Lunar impacts have been seen before - "stuff hits the Moon all the time," Cooke said - but this was the best-ever recording of an explosion in progress. The video plays in 7x slow motion; otherwise the explosion would be nearly invisible to the human eye. "The duration of the fireball was only four-tenths of a second," Cooke said. "A student member of our team, Nick Hollon of Villanova University, spotted the flash." Taking into account the duration of the flash and its brightness (7th magnitude), Cooke was able to estimate the energy of impact, the dimensions of the crater and the size and speed of the meteoroid. "It was a space rock about 10 inches (25 cm) wide traveling 85,000 miles per hour (38 kilometers per second)," he said. If a rock like that hit Earth, it would never reach the ground. "Earth's atmosphere protects us," Cooke explained. "A 10-inch meteoroid would disintegrate in mid-air, making a spectacular fireball in the sky but no crater." The Moon is different. Having no atmosphere, it is totally exposed to meteoroids. Even small ones can cause spectacular explosions, spraying debris far and wide. NASA's Vision for Space Exploration is meant to send astronauts back to the Moon. Are these meteoroids going to cause a problem? "That's what we're trying to find out," Cooke said. "No one knows exactly how many meteoroids hit the Moon every day. By monitoring the flashes, we can learn how often and how hard the Moon gets hit." The work is underway. Using a computerized telescope built by Rob Suggs and Wesley Swift at Marshall, Cooke's group is monitoring the night side of the Moon "as often as 10 times a month, whenever the lunar phase is between 15 percent and 50 percent." During a telescope test last November, Suggs and Swift recorded an explosion on their very first night of observing. A piece of debris from Comet Encke struck the plains of Mare Imbrium, making a crater about 3 meters wide. Now that regular monitoring has begun, Cooke's group already has found a second impact, the May 2 event, in only 20 hours of watching. This time, they suspect, the impactor was a random meteoroid, "a sporadic," from no particular comet or asteroid. "We've made a good beginning," Cooke said, adding that much work remains. He would like to observe all year long, watching the Moon as it passes in and out of known meteoroid streams. "This would establish a good statistical basis for planning (activities on the Moon)," he said.

Flashback: NASA Astronomers Spot Rare Lunar Meteor Strike Steve Roy Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Ala. (Phone: 256.544.0034) 12.23.05 News Release: 05-190 On Nov. 7, using a 10-inch-diameter telescope, astronomers recorded a tiny blip northwest of Mare Imbrium, the moon's "Sea of Showers." Such impacts are not uncommon, but it was only in 1999 that scientists first recorded a lunar strike as it happened. "People just do not look at the moon anymore," said Dr. Robert Suggs, Space Environment team lead in the Natural Environments Branch of the Marshall Center's Engineering Directorate. "We tend to think of it as a known quantity. But there is knowledge still to be gained here." As NASA plans to return to the moon, the agency has a need to understand what happens after lunar impacts in order to protect lunar explorers. On Earth, the atmosphere vaporizes most small meteoroids, leaving nothing behind but a brief streak of light. The vacuum environment on the moon, however, means there is nothing to slow incoming meteoroids before they strike. "The likelihood of being struck by a meteoroid on the lunar surface is very, very small," said Bill Cooke, an astronomer in Marshall's Meteoroid Environment Office. "The challenge is learning what happens to high-velocity ejecta, the debris kicked up by a meteoroid strike, which is not hindered by atmospheric friction or Earth gravity. What threat does that debris pose to humans or equipment?" Suggs, who heads the impact study, used commercial software tools to study the video frame by frame, and spotted a very bright flash. The burst of light diminished gradually over the course of five video frames, each 1/30th of a second in duration. Suggs called in Cooke, and both scientists agreed that the bright light was an impact flash, captured by video from some 248,000 miles away. Immediately, the team began ruling out other possible causes. Two telling characteristics won out – the gradual diminishment of the flash rather than an on-off "winking" effect, and its motionlessness. A flicker of light from a moving satellite, Cooke noted, would have appeared to shift perceptibly, even in five brief frames of video. Suggs and Cooke next consulted star charts and lunar imaging software and determined the meteoroid was likely a Taurid, part of an annual meteor shower active at the time of the strike. Based on the amount of light produced the object was roughly five inches in diameter, traveling more than 60,000 mph, and may have gouged a crater nearly 10 feet in diameter out of the moon's surface. The Taurids, which approach Earth from the direction of the Taurus constellation, are believed to be ancient remnants of comet Encke, which orbits the Sun every 3.3 years. NASA scientists previously studied lunar meteor strikes during the Apollo moon program, but lacked the sophisticated video cameras and high-powered image processors to capture the tiny, telling flashes. Now, however, as NASA readies its next-generation spaceship to carry explorers back to the moon for potential long-term stays, Suggs and Cooke say lunar impact research is more vital than ever. "Large-scale lunar facilities are sure to be well-protected, using impact-resistant technologies much like those developed to shield the space shuttle and the International Space Station," Suggs said. "We want to support additional measures that safeguard personnel working in the lunar field – early-alert systems, emergency protective measures and new technologies that will mitigate risks from flying impact debris."

Flashback: Police report 'dazzling' meteor: Australia December 8, 2005 ABCNewsOnline There were reports of a big meteorite crossing south-western New South Wales and central Victoria overnight. Victorians from Geelong to Mildura called police after apparently watching the object. Senior Victorian Constable Peter Bullock and his partner were patrolling the Calder Highway at Kyneton at about 11:20pm AEDT when they saw what they say was a huge light. Senior Constable Bullock says they had a clear view of the meteorite dropping towards the ground in the eastern sky. "My offsider with me had a look as well and we were just dazzled," he said. "It was unbelievable, it was a huge light, much bigger than any star. It was sort of round and had a very long tail and seemed to be dropping fairly slowly, so we were able to see it for 15 to 20 seconds." "I said to my offsider, 'that's a meteorite, it's certainly too big to be a falling star' and he said the same thing." Comment: With the increasing numbers of Fireballs being sighted, and increasing volcanic activity, we have to wonder if these events are in any way connected to the obvious climate changes we see all around the globe? Unfortunately, most people who do pay attention to the fact that all the ancient myths discuss heating of the earth, increasing Volcanic and Earthquake activity, "signs in the heavens," and wars and rumors of wars, can do little or nothing about it in the face of the massive control system that has been created to keep our attention off what really matters. The Global propaganda machine more and more resembles the system utilized against the citizens of Nazi German under Hitler and Soviet Russia under the Communists. Those who might be creative enough to figure a way out of this mess are marginalized and factionalized. It is oh, so true, that Pathocracy is like a disease: ...What happens if the network of ... psychopaths achieves power in leadership positions with international [control]? ... Goaded by their character, such people thirst for just that even though it would conflict with their own life interestÂ… They do not understand that a catastrophe would ensue. Germs are not aware that they will be burned alive or buried deep in the ground along with the human body whose death they are causing.

Flashback: (Yet another) Meteor lights up the morning skies Thursday, January 12, 2006 Mike Vogel/KTVB BOISEE -- It happened early Thursday morning around 7:15 a.m. Jacqueline Correnti describes what she the bright meteor she saw in the morning sky. A very bright meteor lit up the skies and streaked across the horizon. NewsChannel 7 spoke with several of the people who witnessed it. We had numerous calls here at the station from people who saw it. Police dispatch also took several calls, and even one person in the Boise Airport tower saw it. And though the eyewitness accounts vary slightly, they are all consistent with it being a meteor. “I was driving north on Bogus Basin, and I looked up in the sky and there was fireworks coming down,” said Jacqueline Correnti. When Jacqueline Correnti looked up in the sky this morning she couldn’t' believe her eyes. “I only saw it for a second or two,” said Correnti. A meteor in the skies above the Treasure Valley going west to east. “Between where those two clouds are, it was right in the middle of it, and heading that way it was, if I were going out to reach and grab it, it was a good volleyball size,” said Correnti. “This was definitely not a falling star; the tail on it was bright blue and pretty thick. I’ve seen Hailey’s Comet in the sky, but that is so far away. this was like, this was closer than what an airplane would be. I was so excited, I got goose bumps.” Across town in southeast Boise, Libby Hood saw the same thing. “I saw it for a good ten seconds it was phenomenal. Was coming home and the bright light from this object in the sky caught my attention and it was low enough here above the roof line, I was just about to pull into the driveway and a flash kind of caught my eye, and I looked over to the left and I seen this ball of fire with a tail behind it, kind of at a gradual descent,” said Hood. Video Clip Mike Vogel, Rick Lantz report At first she thought it might be a plane going down. “I verbally remember myself saying, ‘oh my gosh,’ because it was that I looked, and I looked again, and just watched this thing go across the sky, and it was so low. Pretty amazing, pretty phenomenal to witness that,” said Hood. Experts from the Boise Astronomical Society say that if the it did hit the ground, the meteorite would likely be smaller than a walnut. And although it's unclear if anyone saw it land, considering its size, it is highly unlikely anyone would ever find it. But if anyone did find it, meteorites are worth a lot of money. Some put their value at about the same as gold. Comment: A post from our Forum: Im currently living in a town in Essex, Uk... Last night on 11th January 2006 at roughly 19:10hours I witnessed a decending meteroic phenomena which, if I were to hazard a guess, was a small meteor breaking up to the NE of my position. Id guess [it was]no more than 3-6miles from my postion as the view I had was clear enough to see a glitering trail of sparks and colour decending with it, although there was no impact sound, I didn't really expect any. It was in my view for around 1.5-3seconds, so I hadn't seen it decend from a great distance and my view was obscured quickly by other houses. To date in the last - maybe - year or more of watching the skies, this is the sixth or so time I've seen this same type of meteoric phenomena. I think we've been lucky so far as I have yet to have heard any impact. To be quite honest the first 2-3 times I have witnessed this it really sent a chill down my spine as one of these phenomena occured in a horizontal position across a small valley on which I live on the high side, and I knew that whatever it was could have been no more than 200-300feet above my head as it was traveling between the land and the thick cloud cover overhead. I have had my attetion drawn to the skies so many times now and seen so many unexplainable occurences and strange celestial events, I thought I'd start sharing them as and when they occur in future. Ourselves in the future have helped me so much already in understanding what's going on, I felt its time to try and help share the high strangeness I see going on in the world around my locality. Keep the hard hats handy.

Flashback: Meteor lights Alberta sky February 3, 2006 By KATIE SCHNEIDER, CALGARY SUN Calgarians awoke to a fire in the sky early Wednesday morning. Alan Hildebrand, co-ordinator of the Canadian Fireball Reporting Centre, said 20 people reported seeing a fireball, an exceptionally bright meteor, streak across the sky just before 7 a.m., lasting for several seconds before breaking up into fragments. Reports were made from the Calgary area, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Pincher Creek and other areas, he said. "It had to be a bright one for everyone in the Calgary area to see," Hildebrand said. He estimated remnants of the meteorite landed about 400 km south of Calgary somewhere in Montana about two minutes after it appeared as a ball of fire.

Flashback: Meteorite falls in Northeast Brazil Published in O ESTADO DE SAO PAULO 03.08.2006 In TABOACAL at SANTO ANTONIO DE JESUS rural area, PAULINA DE JESUS saw a huge fire ball crossing the sky. "After falling, the fire ascended about 30m into the sky" and burned a great forest area in the Atlantic Forest. The meteorite left five holes in the land of about 2 meters in diameter. The ANTARES Observatory, in the nearby the city of FEIRA DE SANTANA will conduct an investigation. Translated from the Portugese by MA BN

Flashback: Astronomer: "UFO" observed across Thailand is meteor www.chinaview.cn 2006-03-13 BANGKOK, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- The recent sighting of what appears to be an unidentified flying object (UFO) over Thai central province of Ayutthaya has left witnesses scratching their heads over what exactly it might have been while some astronomer and experts thought it was something like a meteor. Morakot Areeya, head of a astronomy learning center, was quotedon Monday by the Bangkok Post as saying that he saw a burning object speeding across the sky at about 6:20 p.m. (1120 GMT) on March 4 in Ayutthaya's Nakhon Si Ayutthaya district. Some other witnesses also reported they have seen the unidentified object that night. Worawit Thanwuttibandit, a cosmic adviser to the Thai Astronomical Society, said the object might have been a large meteor. Dr Sarun Posayajinda, deputy director-general of the National Astronomical Research Institute, said it was possible that the object was some kind of space debris which had burst into flames on entering the earth's atmosphere. Morakot took a photograph of the object, which he first thought was an airplane that had burst into flames. However, he was surprised to see the object continue to streak across the sky in an easterly direction before disappearing from sight. Morakot said it did not appear that the object had struck the earth, rather it had traveled almost horizontally. He said some locals felt the object may have been some form of UFO. "It is strange because after contacting a number of local amateur radio hams, none had learnt of any air crashes in the area," Morakot said

Flashback: Nah. It couldn't have been a meteorite. Could it? Mar, 23 2006 BURNABY/CKNW(AM980) - A loud explosion in Burnaby late last night has authorities scratching their heads. About 11:05 the blast rattled windows and awakened neighbours near the Chaffey Burke Elementary School on Abbey Avenue. Police responded with officers and a dog but came up empty handed. All they could find was a small hole in the ground. No damage has been reported and there were no injuries.

Flashback: Daytime Meteor Spotted In Colorado Vail Daily 07/06/2006 Steve Erickson and his boys have a pretty good view of the night sky. Tuesday, the daytime sky was pretty impressive, too. As Erickson and his boys Colton, 11, and Cal, 9, were driving back to their home at Horse Mountain Ranch north of Wolcott Tuesday afternoon, they saw something - presumably a meteor - streak across the western sky. "It was visible across probably a third of the sky, probably from Burns Hole to Muddy Pass," Steve said. "It looked like fireworks. When it separated, it had color to it." The trail of smoke the meteor left then hung in the sky for several seconds after the thing had disintegrated. "It was the biggest one I've ever seen," Colton said. "It was better than seeing one at night," Cal said. "This didn't just streak across the sky and disappear." [...]

Flashback: UFO 'probably a small meteorite or something' Johannesburg, South Africa 23 May 06 The search for an unidentified object that apparently crashed into the sea at Port Shepstone on Saturday will resume at the weekend as there were no bodies to search for, the National Sea Rescue Institute said on Tuesday. "It is unlikely that we will go out to search before the weekend. The NSRI's core business is rescuing people and here there is no loss of life involved," said NSRI Shelley Beach Station Commander Eddie Noyons. The search for the unidentified object began on Saturday after witnesses reported that an object, possibly an aircraft, had crashed into the sea behind the breaker line off-shore of the Port Shepstone High School. Police, rescue craft and a fixed wing aircraft were alerted to the scene to investigate. "Following a full-scale search of the area covering 12 square nautical miles nothing had been found. "There are no reports of activity in the area that may be related to this incident and there are no aircraft reported to be overdue or missing," said Noyons. He said numerous witnesses -- including teachers and pupils attending a sports event at the high school, and other bystanders including local fishermen -- were convinced they had seen an aircraft go into the water, including seeing smoke and a water plume. Interviews with the witnesses revealed that some also reported seeing flames. "Some reported seeing something, an unidentified object, splash into the sea causing a ripple effect of waves," Noyons said. Due to the number of witnesses with similar reports, it was presumed that weather activity might have given the impression of something falling into the sea. Noyons said rescue workers were unable to find oil slicks, petrol spillage or any signs or wreckage during the search on Saturday. "We are not sure what it was as we are still unaware of any missing aircraft, but will continue the search at the weekend. It's probably a small meteorite or something. The weekend will be a nice time for diving," said Noyons. - Sapa

Flashback: Witnesses to 'green fire' wanted By STAFF Tue, June 6, 2006 Manitoba Museum wants to hear from people who spotted "eerie green fire" in the sky late Friday. Resident astronomer Scott Young said the spectacle occurred about 11:30 p.m. when a small asteroid or chunk of comet burned up in the Earth's atmosphere, shattering into several pieces. A sonic boom could be heard in the Whiteshell area about five minutes later, meaning the object was "nice and low," Young said. He said it was visible from Winnipeg as far east as Lake of the Woods, and some pieces may have made it to the ground. Vaporizing materials in the object, which burned up at 4,000 C to 5,000 C, produced the green colour, Young said. Descriptions have him believing it was a large bolide, which is a bigger cousin of a meteor or shooting star. "This happens every day somewhere in the world," Young said. He wants to gather as many eyewitness accounts as he can to determine a flight path and find any fragments that may have made it to ground level. People can send an e-mail to skyinfo@manitobamuseum.ca or call 956-2830 to submit their sighting. You must include the time and date, your location when you saw the object, direction you were facing, the direction it was travelling (right to left, for example), and a description of the object and any sound it made.

Flashback: South Africa: Meteorite crashes through windscreen of car Auto Express World News 7 June 06 Driver Rick Wirth's escape when a stone crashed through his screen on a road in Minneapolis left him thanking his lucky stars. The rock was a meteorite from space.

Flashback: Record meteorite hits Norway - Impact blast comparable to Hiroshima Aftenposten.no 09 Jun 2006 At around 2:05 a.m. on Wednesday, residents of the northern part of Troms and the western areas of Finnmark could clearly see a ball of fire taking several seconds to travel across the sky. A few minutes later an impact could be heard and geophysics and seismology research foundation NORSAR registered a powerful sound and seismic disturbances at 02:13.25 a.m. at their station in Karasjok. Farmer Peter Bruvold was out on his farm in Lyngseidet with a camera because his mare Virika was about to foal for the first time. "I saw a brilliant flash of light in the sky, and this became a light with a tail of smoke," Bruvold told Aftenposten.no. He photographed the object and then continued to tend to his animals when he heard an enormous crash. "I heard the bang seven minutes later. It sounded like when you set off a solid charge of dynamite a kilometer (0.62 miles) away," Bruvold said. Astronomers were excited by the news. "There were ground tremors, a house shook and a curtain was blown into the house," Norway's best known astronomer Knut Jørgen Røed Ødegaard told Aftenposten.no. Røed Ødegaard said the meteorite was visible to an area of several hundred kilometers despite the brightness of the midnight sunlit summer sky. The meteorite hit a mountainside in Reisadalen in North Troms. "This is simply exceptional. I cannot imagine that we have had such a powerful meteorite impact in Norway in modern times. If the meteorite was as large as it seems to have been, we can compare it to the Hiroshima bomb. Of course the meteorite is not radioactive, but in explosive force we may be able to compare it to the (atomic) bomb," Røed Ødegaard said. The astronomer believes the meteorite was a giant rock and probably the largest known to have struck Norway. "The record was the Alta meteorite that landed in 1904. That one was 90 kilos (198 lbs) but we think the meteorite that landed Wednesday was considerably larger," Røed Ødegaard said, and urged members of the public who saw the object or may have found remnants to contact the Institute of Astrophysics. Comment: Gosh, what a surprise! For more information on comets, meteors, and NEOs, check out: - The Signs Meteor Supplement - Independence Day by Laura Knight-Jadczyk - Cometary Showers, Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? by Laura Knight-Jadczyk The Norway strike is especially interesting not only because of its sheer magnitude, but because it seems to have been a busy week for meteorites and fireballs...