http://www.sott.net/signs/list_by_category/17-Fire-in-the-Sky Signs of the Times: The World for People who Think. Featuring news and commentary on world events. en-us Original content Copyright 2012 by Signs of the Times/Sott.net. For other content, see our Fair Use Policy at www.sott.net. Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:27:06 -0600 http://www.sott.net/images/sottlogo_rss.jpg SOTT.net http://www.sott.net http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241862-Partial-Solar-Eclipse Today, the new Moon passed in front of the sun, off-center, producing a partial solar eclipse. The only place to see it was from space. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) sends this picture from geosynchronous orbit approximately 36,000 km above Earth's surface: Using a bank of 16 megapixel cameras, SDO observed the event at multiple extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. Scan the edge of the Moon in this 171 Å image: The little bumps and irregularities you see are lunar mountains backlit by solar plasma. Beyond the novelty of observing an eclipse from space, these images have practical value to the SDO science team. The sharp edge of the lunar limb helps researchers measure the in-orbit characteristics of the telescope--e.g., how light diffracts around the telescope's optics and filter support grids. Once these are calibrated, it is possible to correct SDO data for instrumental effects and sharpen the images even more than before. The next solar eclipse visible from Earth's surface occurs on May 20, 2012: video. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241862-Partial-Solar-Eclipse Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:26:56 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241668-Video-of-last-week-s-enormous-fireball-over-South-Carolina http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241668-Video-of-last-week-s-enormous-fireball-over-South-Carolina Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:01:55 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241666-New-Comet-P-2012-C3-PANSTARRS- Cbet nr. 3021, issued on 2012, February 16, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 21.6) by Larry Denneau and Richard Wainscoat in four exposures taken with the 1.8-m Pan-STARRS 1 telescope at Haleakala on February 15.3. The new comet has been designated P/2012 C3 (PANSTARRS). We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of ten R-filtered exposures, 60-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Siding Spring-Faulkes Telescope South on 2012, Feb. 16.6, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object is a comet: faint fan-shaped tail, nearly 6-arcsec long in PA 284. Our confirmation image: M.P.E.C. 2012-D03 assignes the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet P/2012 C3: T 2011 Oct. 11.99; e= 0.61; Peri. = 346.39; q = 3.67 AU; Incl.= 9.38 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241666-New-Comet-P-2012-C3-PANSTARRS- Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:57:38 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241663-US-Ancient-meteorite-standing-between-one-Iowa-town-and-its-water-supply The remains of a 1.5 mile-wide, 10 billion-ton meteorite are causing problems for a small Iowa town, 74 million years after it crashed onto the Earth's surface at 45,000 miles per hour. The Des Moines Register reports that the 1,600 residents of Manson, Iowa are struggling to locate a site for the town's well due to the geological impact of the meteorite. The crash created the underground Manson Crater - which has a diameter of 24 miles and reaches into four neighboring counties. "It's hard to predict exactly what you are going to hit," state geologist Robert Libra told the Register. "It's a jumbled mess." For a little context, the asteroid blamed for wiping out the dinosaurs and most life on Earth 65 million years ago is estimated to have been about 9 miles in diameter. According to a 2010 article in the journal Science, that impact was the equivalent of 1,000,000 Hiroshima nuclear bombs, creating tsunamis and earthquakes measuring more than 10 on the Richter scale. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241663-US-Ancient-meteorite-standing-between-one-Iowa-town-and-its-water-supply Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:29:35 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241640-Wilsford-cum-Lake-doorstep-meteorite-biggest-to-fall-in-UK- Mystery had always surrounded the origins of a 200lb (90kg) meteorite that had been on the doorstep of a Wiltshire house for more than 80 years. Experts had wondered if the space rock had initially landed in another part of the world several thousand years ago and had been brought at some stage over to England However, researchers now believe the 1.6ft (50cm) long rock may have landed 30,000 years ago closer to home - making it possibly the largest meteorite ever found in Britain. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241640-Wilsford-cum-Lake-doorstep-meteorite-biggest-to-fall-in-UK- Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:36:32 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241629-Aurora-Whirlpool Sometimes the sky surprises us. On Feb. 14-15, with little warning, geomagnetic activity rippled around the Arctic Circle, producing an outbreak of auroras that veteran observers said was among the best in months. At the height of the display, a US Defense Meteorological Program satellite photographed a whirlpool of Northern Lights just north of the Bering Sea: "A number of images from the DMSP F18 satellite captured the dramatic auroral event of the last couple nights," says analyst Paul McCrone, who processed processed the data at the US Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center in Monterey, CA. The reason for the outburst is still not completely clear. It got started on Feb. 14th when a magnetic disturbance rippled around the Arctic Circle. No CME was obvious in local solar wind data at the time; the disturbance just ... happened. Once begun, the disturbance was amplified by the actions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth. The IMF tipped south, opening a crack in our planet's magnetic defenses. Solar wind poured in and fueled the auroras. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241629-Aurora-Whirlpool Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:09:59 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241622-US-Exploding-UFO-Wakes-Thousands-in-South-Carolina A streaking flash of blue light, what many witnesses are calling a UFO, burst over the midnight skies of South Carolina early on Monday morning. What was it? No one really knows, but the object, caught on tape, has astronomers trying to allay fears in a nervous public. The unidentified flying object was caught on a home security cam, reflected in the window of a parked car, and a nighttime sky camera which showed the UFO blasting through the sky trailed by a flashing tail. Local astronomers were immediately consulted and tried to allay public fears by saying the UFO was probably a comet or meteorite, even though such celestial phenomenon are usually well-known and expected by the time an object of this size burns up in the atmosphere. Still, one local resident, interviewed by the local FOX affiliate in the video below, admits she was scared and wondered for just a moment if it was "aliens" attacking. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241622-US-Exploding-UFO-Wakes-Thousands-in-South-Carolina Thu, 16 Feb 2012 07:23:35 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241606-New-Comet-C-2012-CH17-MOSS- Discovery Date February 7, 2012 Magnitude 17.9 mag Discoverer Morocco Oukaimeden Sky Survey (MOSS) Orbital Elements T 2012 Sept. 28.07814 TT MPC q 1.2957137 (2000.0) P Q Peri. 138.01949 -0.04302480 +0.92540652 Node 125.94444 -0.99480698 -0.00488755 e 1.0 Incl. 27.71566 -0.09223850 -0.37894443 From 29 observations 2012 Feb. 2-13. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241606-New-Comet-C-2012-CH17-MOSS- Wed, 15 Feb 2012 11:46:32 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241565-South-Carolina-US-New-Video-Shows-Upstate-Meteor Spartanburg - Officials in Spartanburg County said a large boom heard by many people in the Upstate Monday morning may be a meteor. Law enforcement officials saw a large ball of fire that popped in the air around 1:45 a.m. Monday. Viewers from Greenville to Cherokee Counties called 7 On Your Side saying they heard the noise and their homes shook. No one was hurt. Calls poured in to dispatchers across the Upstate soon after. Some said it sounded like a crash. Others said they thought someone was kicking in their door. The National Weather Service tells 7 On Your Side it was most likely something speeding toward Earth from outer space. It could have been moving as fast as 10 times the speed of sound. "Thank God for the atmosphere," says Doug Gegen. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241565-South-Carolina-US-New-Video-Shows-Upstate-Meteor Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:48:31 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241539-US-Possible-Meteorite-Wakes-Many-in-South-Carolina Greenville - Emergency dispatchers from across the Upstate and The National Weather Service office say they got numerous calls overnight from people who heard a loud explosion followed by lights streaking across the sky. The National Weather Service said it got a call from Greenville police around 2 a.m. Police said they had been getting calls about lights in the sky and a loud boom. They said after they started getting calls they checked the security camera at the National Weather Service and saw a flash of light at 1:42 a.m. A National Weather Service representative said it could have been a meteorite. The National Weather Service say they also got calls from Cherokee County. One of these callers said they saw an object breaking apart in the sky. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241539-US-Possible-Meteorite-Wakes-Many-in-South-Carolina Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:22:44 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241515-US-What-was-that-light-in-the-sky- So, just what was that in the sky this morning? Some upstate South Carolina residents reported seeing a fireball and hearing a large boom around 1:45 a.m. today. But so far, the National Weather Service hasn't been able to confirm that it was a meteor. "There's no evidence of anything actually striking the ground," said meterologist Harry Gerapetritis, of the National Weather Service office in Greer, S.C. "So it must have burned up in the sky, as best anybody can tell." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241515-US-What-was-that-light-in-the-sky- Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:16:36 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241512-Exploding-Fireball-recorded-over-Okayama-Japan Video of a fireball entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding over Okayama, Japan, 12th February 2012. Thanks to the fine folks at Sonotaco.jp for their videos/images. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241512-Exploding-Fireball-recorded-over-Okayama-Japan Mon, 13 Feb 2012 15:56:36 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241502-Laughable-Scientists-Say-Nuclear-Bomb-CAN-Save-Earth-from-Asteroid It sounds like a plot fit for a disaster movie - but this is real life. Scientists say they have worked out a way to blast an asteroid into space dust using an atomic bomb. The plan has potentially world-saving consequences should an asteroid emerge on a collision course with Earth. And unlike the film Armageddon - where Bruce Willis and his crew of stars fly a space shuttle to an oncoming Asteroid to drill a warhead into its core - the nuclear payload could be delivered by rocket. Using one of the world's most powerful supercomputers at Los Alamos National Laboratory, physicists have calculated the effect of a nuclear blast on an incoming space rock. Although Nasa and other space agencies have mapped most nearby asteroids, the effect of one catching us by surprise would be catastrophic and, they believe, is worth preparing for. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241502-Laughable-Scientists-Say-Nuclear-Bomb-CAN-Save-Earth-from-Asteroid Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:18:19 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241489-New-Comet-C-2012-C2-BRUENJES- Cbet nr. 3019, issued on 2012, February 12, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 15.3) by Manfred Bruenjes on 30-s CCD exposures taken on two nights with a 0.36-m f/2.0 Schmidt-Cassegrain reflector on February 11.1 & 12.08. The new comet has been designated C/2012 C2 (BRUENJES). We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Co-adding of 5 unfiltered exposures, 30 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2012 Feb 12.8 through a 0.15-m f/7.3 refractor + CCD (Nerpio MPC Code - I89) confirms that this object is a comet: diffuse coma 1 arcminute and 30 arcseconds in diameter, with a sharp central condensation Our confirmation image: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241489-New-Comet-C-2012-C2-BRUENJES- Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:53:07 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241462-New-Comet-C-2012-C1-McNAUGHT- Cbet nr.3016, issued on 2012, February 11, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.8) by R. H. McNaught on CCD images obtained on February 5.5, 2012 taken with the 0.5-m Uppsala Schmidt telescope at Siding Spring. The new comet has been designated C/2012 C1 (McNAUGHT). We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of eight R-filtered exposures, 30-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Siding Spring-Faulkes Telescope South on 2012, Feb. 6.4, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, shows that this object is a comet: coma about 5" in diameter, with a weak central condensation. The coma is slightly elongated toward the southwest. Our confirmation image http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241462-New-Comet-C-2012-C1-McNAUGHT- Sat, 11 Feb 2012 12:39:28 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241360-Mystery-of-Britain-s-Largest-Meteorite-Solved With a weight that rivals a baby elephant, a meteorite that fell from space some 30,000 years ago is likely Britain's largest space rock. And after much sleuthing, researchers think they know where it came from and how it survived so long without weathering away. The giant rock, spanning about 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) across and weighing 205 pounds (93 kilograms), was likely discovered by an archaeologist about 200 years ago at a burial site created by the Druids (an ancient Celtic priesthood) near Stonehenge, according to said Colin Pillinger, a professor of planetary sciences at the Open University. Pillinger curated the exhibition "Objects in Space," which opens today (Feb. 9) and is the first time the public will get a chance to see the meteorite. The exhibition will explore not only the mystery that surrounds the origins of the giant meteorite, but also the history and our fascination with space rocks. As for how the meteorite survived its long stint on Earth, researchers point to the ice age. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241360-Mystery-of-Britain-s-Largest-Meteorite-Solved Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:25:41 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241317-Propaganda-Alert-Space-junk-orbiting-Earth-threatens-satellites-space-exploration Nighttime sky gazers looking for shooting stars sometimes catch a glimpse of a slower, brighter object streaking across the sky. It's usually not a meteor, but rather a bolt or a paint chip that is part of the tons of debris floating in Earth's orbit, posing real dangers to space exploration. A new film opening at Clark Planetarium on Friday called Space Junk 3D highlights some of those risks. "What's the history of pioneers working through a new frontier? They leave behind stuff, it's what archaeologists find," said Seth Jarvis, director of the Clark Planetarium. "Space is the final frontier, and we're leaving behind stuff. The legacy of the space age includes footprints on moon, but it also includes orbiting clouds of litter that create a real challenge to orbiting activities." Don Kessler, retired NASA senior scientist for Orbital Debris and star of the film, wrote a paper in 1978 predicting what will happen as more space junk filled Earth's orbit. "I was trying to understand ... how long would it take before we had to worry about manmade objects colliding with one another," Kessler told The Tribune. The answer: Right about now. In 2007, China's military performed a test of an anti-satellite weapon. It worked, taking out a satellite and creating a massive debris cloud that will orbit for hundreds of years. Two years later, two satellites collided, again forming a huge debris cloud that puts other satellites, rockets and other space vehicles at risk. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241317-Propaganda-Alert-Space-junk-orbiting-Earth-threatens-satellites-space-exploration Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:17:01 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241133-Reports-of-fireball-with-huge-tail-seen-over-Western-Australia 5 Feb 2012: 'sas' Perth - 01.10am 10 sec. Australia - Yellowish huge yellowish shooting star not that I saw. No photo 5 Feb 2012: 'Rhett' WA Kalgoorlie - 1:05:00 15 seconds. N-S, Green As the moon N/A I've never see anything like it, it had a huge tail. 5 Feb 2012: 'dan' perth, WA, Australia - 1:18 15 seconds. N-S, orange, blue, yellow brighter than moon, larger than moon none massive, bigger than moon. 5 Feb 2012: 'Tara Isaac' Perth, Western Australia - 01.10 hours approx 20 secs. E-W, Large, bright green fiery head, long white tail. Brighter than Venus. No photo, seen while driving freeway North http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241133-Reports-of-fireball-with-huge-tail-seen-over-Western-Australia Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:45:30 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241132-East-coast-of-US-lights-up-as-another-enormous-fireball-streaks-through-sky More than 100 people from New Jersey to North Carolina reported seeing a bright streak of light with a tail shooting through the night sky late Friday. "It looked a lot brighter than a shooting star," German Osorio wrote on InsideNova.com's Facebook page. "Maybe only a few hundred feet up and it had that color that propane gets when it burns." Kseniya Ledbetter of Fairfax said she spotted the fireball as she drove along Braddock Road east of Va. 28 around 10:15 p.m. "The most beautiful thing I ever saw! It was changing colors and then went out right above Hampton Chase neighborhood." NASA, the FAA and the National Weather Service have yet to weigh in on the sky phenomena, but the website "The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News" had more than 100 posts Saturday about the fireball from people in Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland and North Carolina. The American Meteor Society had 56 reports of a fireball sighting, again from New Jersey to North Carolina. Most reports came from Virginia and Maryland. "Big and blue with a red tail. Looked like a meteor to us," Jessica Guido of Stafford wrote on our Facebook page. Witnesses reported seeing the fireball between 10 and 10:30 p.m. All described it as very bright and very low. "It was awesome, bright as could be with a hint of blue green," wrote Michele Janke, who saw the fireball along Prince William Parkway. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241132-East-coast-of-US-lights-up-as-another-enormous-fireball-streaks-through-sky Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:38:18 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241131-Huge-Fireball-Over-Tokyo-2-February-2012 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241131-Huge-Fireball-Over-Tokyo-2-February-2012 Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:10:25 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241129-Fireball-Photographed-Over-Corfu-Greece The photo above showing a startling fireball appearing to rip apart the night sky was seen during a star observation session at Mount Pantokrator on the Greek island of Corfu. I had set my camera up to get a picture of our small group and before long this brilliant meteor lit up the surrounding landscape. It was approximately -8 magnitude or about 25 times brighter than Venus at its brightest -- so bright that we were bathed in a sea of blue-green light. You can see the reflection on my 16 in (41 cm) telescope, on the table at right-center and on the side of my car. Click here to see a short animation. Photo details: Canon EOS 40D camera; 15mm fisheye lens; f/2.8; ISO 800; 30 second exposure; Photoshop; Cropped. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241129-Fireball-Photographed-Over-Corfu-Greece Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:06:08 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241126-Russia-Something-fell-from-the-sky-in-the-village-of-Novobureysk Car's DVR camera captured a UFO. A glowing object fell from the sky on the outskirts of the village Novobureysk. The footage shows the date and time: January 22, 2012, 9:10. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241126-Russia-Something-fell-from-the-sky-in-the-village-of-Novobureysk Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:41:53 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241099-Another-New-Comet-C-2012-B3-LA-SAGRA- Cbet nr. 3012, issued on 2012, February 04, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.3) on CCD images taken with the 0.45-m f/2.8 reflector at La Sagra, Spain on January 29.1, 2012. The apparently asteroidal object was later noted by Jaime Nomen on La Sagra images taken on Jan. 30.2 to be a possible comet with slight diffuseness. The new comet has been designated C/2012 B3 (LA SAGRA). We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 10 R-filtered exposures, 20-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2012, Jan.30.6, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, under good seeing conditions, shows that this object appears "soft", compared to the nearby field stars of similar brightness (stellar FWHM of 1.2"). Our confirmation image: M.P.E.C. 2012-C23 assignes the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2012 B3: T 2011 Nov. 29.91; e= 1.00; Peri. = 49.22; q = 3.52 AU; Incl.= 106.85 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241099-Another-New-Comet-C-2012-B3-LA-SAGRA- Sat, 04 Feb 2012 12:29:13 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241082-Comet-Lovejoy-as-seen-from-Australian-outback This is the out-of-this world photograph of the beauty of an amazing comet streaking across the cosmos. Caught on camera over a swamp in Australia the stunning image shows the trail of the Comet Lovejoy as it passed close to Earth. Lying in wait in the darkness in Poocher Swamp Game Reserve near Adelaide, was photographer Wayne England who took this amazing snap. As his picture shows the darkness of the swamp and the reflection of the water made the perfect backdrop to reflect the comet zooming across the sky. Mr England, 40, who is a member of the Astronomical Society of South Australia, said he first heard about the comet travelling close to Earth in December and had several nights to try and catch a glimpse at 4am in the morning on Christmas Eve. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241082-Comet-Lovejoy-as-seen-from-Australian-outback Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:48:20 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241081-When-it-comes-to-dangerous-asteroids-any-solution-is-still-a-fantasy Back in September, The Takeaway was gazing up at the sky in trepidation at the news that yet another piece of redundant manmade space junk was hurtling back to Earth, threatening to extensively remodel someone's lawn. Four months later and we are ducking again, but this time the author of our fear is not some rocket scientist who forgot that what goes up must come down, but the universe itself. It isn't, it turns out, the old tin cans we should be concerned about so much as the thousands of Near-Earth Objects (NEO) - asteroids large and small - heading our way, some with the potential to explode in our atmosphere with the force of a nuclear arsenal and cause an Extinction Level Event. Remember the dinosaurs? Well exactly. The good news is that we are getting quite good at spotting these things. So far Nasa, which began looking in earnest in 2005, has discovered 8,000, with another 70 popping up every month. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241081-When-it-comes-to-dangerous-asteroids-any-solution-is-still-a-fantasy Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:36:30 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241080-Japan-s-second-asteroid-satellite-gets-the-green-light Posted on behalf of Ichiko Fuyuno. Nearly six years after it was proposed, Japan's Space Activities Commission has finally approved the development of Hayabusa 2, successor to the Hayabusa asteroid probe, which returned samples to Earth in 2010 (see 'Asteroid visit finds familiar dust'). Hayabusa 2 will aim for 1999JU3, a small asteroid about 900 metres in diameter. The asteroid is slightly bigger than the first mission's destination, Itokawa, but it is supposedly more primitive and contains more organic or hydrated materials, which may provide clues about the origins of the Solar System. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans to launch Hayabusa 2 in 2014 or 2015, land on the asteroid in 2018 and return to the Earth in 2020. Hayabusa 2 will be closely based on its predecessor, but will incorporate many "lessons learned" from the problems encountered by the first mission. In the original Hayabusa, the ion-thrust engines died before the end of the mission, so the team will work to extend their operating life. The probe crashed down on the surface when it attempted its first landing, because of a malfunction of an obstacle-detection sensor. The sensor will be scrapped and navigation systems improved to enable a smooth touch-down. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241080-Japan-s-second-asteroid-satellite-gets-the-green-light Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:25:04 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241079-US-Wednesday-night-s-Texas-meteor-so-bright-it-was-seen-in-Kansas Wichita, Kansas - If you saw an unusual bright light moving across the sky Wednesday night, chances are, you were looking at a meteor. A patrol car dash camera in northern Texas captured the falling meteor as it was streaking across the sky around 8 p.m. Wednesday night. "There was a bright light that was seen in the sky from Wichita through Oklahoma and down into Texas," said director of Lake Afton Observatory, Greg Novacek. Traveling anywhere from ten to forty miles per second, he estimates it landed in Texas, just south of Waco. "There was actually a sonic boom heard near Waco from the meteor," said Novacek. While most meteorites are never found because they land in the ocean, Kansans seem to stumble upon the space rocks more often than others. "Kansas actually ranks second in the U.S. for recorded meteorite falls and the only state ahead of us is Texas," said Wichita Meteorite Society Founder, Jerry Calvert. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241079-US-Wednesday-night-s-Texas-meteor-so-bright-it-was-seen-in-Kansas Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:18:13 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241074-New-Comet-P-2011-VJ5-LEMMON- Cbet nr.3010, issued on 2012, February 03, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 18.5) by R. E. Hill on CCD images obtained on February 01.4, 2012 taken with the Catalina Sky Survey's 0.68-m Schmidt telescope. The new comet has been designated P/2011 VJ5 (LEMMON). T. Spahr, Minor Planet Center, noted that this object appears identical to an apparently asteroidal object discovered by the Mount Lemmon Survey on Nov. 3 (observer R. Kowalski; discovery observations tabulated below) and then designated 2011 VJ5. We performed some follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 8 R-filtered exposures, 30-sec each, obtained remotely, from the Haleakala-Faulkes Telescope North on 2012, Feb.1.6, through a 2.0-m f/10.0 Ritchey-Chretien + CCD, under good seeing conditions, shows that this object is a comet: compact coma nearly 3" in diameter with a sharp central condensation, and a tail about 20" long in PA 292. Our confirmation image below. M.P.E.C. 2012-C14 assigns the following preliminary orbital elements to comet P/2011 VJ5: T 2011 Dec. 8.7; e= 0.55; Peri. = 315.12; q = 1.50 AU; Incl.= 3.97 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241074-New-Comet-P-2011-VJ5-LEMMON- Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:19:22 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241029-US-Texas-Fireball Last night, a spectacular fireball appeared in the skies of eastern Texas and Oklahoma. As is often the case for unexpected night-sky phenomena, few pictures are available. The best so far comes from a police dash-board camera in the small town of Little River-Academy, TX: One wonders if the officer looked up from writing the ticket to witness the spectacle above. According to Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office, this was probably a natural object--a small asteroid about the size of a car or bus--not a decaying satellite or other manmade space debris. The fireball, which disintegrated in the general vicinity of Dallas-Fort Worth, was bright enough to be seen on NASA cameras located in New Mexico more than 500 miles away. "It was about as bright as the full Moon (astronomical magnitude -13)," estimates Cooke, who is still analyzing data and sighting reports in hopes of calculating the object's orbit. He might yet figure out where the Texas fireball came from. Stay tuned for updates. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241029-US-Texas-Fireball Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:52:39 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241023-2012-BX34-Behind-the-scenes-in-the-discovery-of-a-near-Earth-asteroid Several blockbuster movies, television shows and commercials have depicted the discovery of an asteroid heading towards Earth and usually, somehow, impending doom is averted. But how do the discoveries of Near Earth Objects really happen? Asteroid 2012 BX34 buzzed by Earth last week, and even though this small asteroid was never considered a threat to Earth, its discovery still piqued the interest of the public. It was discovered by Alex Gibbs, an astronomer and software engineer from the Catalina Sky Survey. Universe Today asked Gibbs to share his experiences of being an asteroid hunter and what it was like to find this latest NEO that made the Top-20 list of closest approaches to Earth. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241023-2012-BX34-Behind-the-scenes-in-the-discovery-of-a-near-Earth-asteroid Thu, 02 Feb 2012 12:32:37 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241010-Rare-ring-of-fire-eclipse-to-appear-over-North-America-May-2012 Get out your calendar and make a big exclamation point on May 20. That's when an annular solar eclipse will turn the sun into a glowing ring of fire. This is the first solar eclipse visible from the United States in about 18 years, according to NASA. We've had our share of lunar eclipses in recent years, but solar eclipses happen when the moon passes in front of the sun, obscuring it from view. The "ring of fire" effect will be visible as far north as Medford, Oregon and as far south as Lubbock, Texas. Throughout the zone - called the "path of annularity" - sky watchers will see the sun transformed into a a bright doughnut-like object. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241010-Rare-ring-of-fire-eclipse-to-appear-over-North-America-May-2012 Thu, 02 Feb 2012 09:57:08 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241003-US-Meteor-hurtled-over-Texas-on-Wednesday-night Witnesses spotted it from Oklahoma City to south of Waco At about 8 p.m. on Wednesday night, a meteor zipped across the sky over Dallas, then burst into a streaking flame before burning out. WFAA received more than 200 reports, and a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman confirmed that it was likely a meteor or meteorite. Sightings extended from as far north as Oklahoma City to south of Waco. Some heard a boom. On its Wednesday night broadcast, CBS 11 described it as an "electrophonic" meteor -- one that can be heard as it burns. Comments on WFAA's Facebook page came from The Colony, Rockwall, and beyond, each describing it slightly differently: as a "large blue and green ball with a orange tail," as "bright green," and as "real bright blue with a long fire trail behind it." I actually saw it as it burned out. In what was undoubtedly an optical illusion, it looked like it was coming from south of downtown Dallas and moving in a northeast direction, as if headed for White Rock Lake. I happened to be watching a performance online by Bjork from Tuesday night's The Colbert Report. She sang "Cosmogony," a song from her new album Biophilia and I was trying to figure out the lyrics. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/241003-US-Meteor-hurtled-over-Texas-on-Wednesday-night Thu, 02 Feb 2012 06:15:16 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240947-Comet-Garradd-to-Make-Closest-Approach-to-Earth-in-March Astrophotographers, ready your cameras. On Friday morning, February 3rd, Comet Garradd (C/2009 P1) will pass approximately 0.5 degrees from globular cluster M92 in Hercules. Last night, Rolando Ligustri took this picture of the converging pair using a remotely-controlled 106mm telescope in New Mexico: The ten minute exposure shows the comet's fan-shaped dust tail, which roughly traces the comet's orbit, and its pencil-thin gas tail, which points almost directly away from the sun due to the action of the solar wind. The star cluster and the comet are both located in the constellation Hercules, high overhead in northern hemisphere skies before sunrise. Sky and Telescope offers a sky map of the comet's path. Observers with computerized GOTO telescopes can track the comet by plugging in orbital elements from the Minor Planet Center. At the moment, Comet Garradd has an astronomical magnitude of +6.5, invisible to the naked eye but an easy target for backyard telescopes. Forecasters expect it to brighten by a factor of ~2 in the weeks ahead as the comet approaches Earth for a 1.3 AU close encounter in early March. This could be a good time to invest in a Comet Hunter. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240947-Comet-Garradd-to-Make-Closest-Approach-to-Earth-in-March Wed, 01 Feb 2012 13:21:27 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240943-German-art-dealers-trying-to-steal-El-Chaco-meteor-from-Argentina An unlikely alliance between the native Moqoit people and leading Argentine scientists has thwarted plans to ship the world's second largest meteorite to Germany as a prestigious art exhibit. The 37-ton space rock crashed to Earth as part of a meteor shower between 4,000 and 5,000 years ago, forming a giant 48,000 square kilometer crater field in northeastern Argentina known as Campo del Cielo, or Field of the Sky. Named El Chaco after the province it fell into, the meteorite is central to the world view of the native Moqoit people, many of whose legends, passed down from generation to generation, are based on the meteor shower. The Moqoit First Nation was decimated following the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century and today there are only about 15,000 natives left, living mainly in far northeastern Argentina. A controversy erupted when the Chaco provincial legislature in December approved a request by a pair of Buenos Aires-based artists to ship the meteorite to Germany to feature in the Documenta modern art exhibition. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240943-German-art-dealers-trying-to-steal-El-Chaco-meteor-from-Argentina Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:52:10 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240942-Canada-Halifax-fireball-probably-a-meteor An expert on astronomy says the glowing fireball that some Halifax residents saw streaking through the sky Thursday night was probably a meteor. Alan Strauss at the Mount Lemmon Sky Center in Arizona says these spectacular fireballs are quite common. However, Strauss says people often miss them because they just don't look up that much. Comment: That or they just have incredibly short memories. This is from January 2009: Canada: Halifax, Nova Scotia - Ball of Fire The fiery object appeared to travel from west to east over the Halifax area at around 9:30pm. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240942-Canada-Halifax-fireball-probably-a-meteor Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:42:07 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240914-South-Carolina-US-More-Questions-than-Answers-in-Mysterious-South-Congaree-Boom South Carolina - In a quiet little town like South Congaree, when something happens, everybody knows about it. Even if they don't exactly know what it was. "People are curious," said Betty Fairbanks, a resident. "We'd like to know what went on what it was." The incident happened Sunday morning around 8:00am when the sleepy town was shaken out of bed by some kind of loud boom. "At first we thought a big tree limb had fallen on the house," said Fairbanks. "It shook the house." Police Chief Jason Amodio says calls came in from a 4 mile radius, but no reports of damage or injury. But, most importantly, no cause. "We've talked to several people about it we even called the Cayce quarry, but there's no indication of any kind of quarrying going on that time of day or that would even be loud enough to be heard in the town if it was," said Amodio. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240914-South-Carolina-US-More-Questions-than-Answers-in-Mysterious-South-Congaree-Boom Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:42:08 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240850-USGS-monitors-Earth-s-magnetic-field-to-prepare-citizens-for-magnetic-storms Everyone is familiar with weather systems on Earth like rain, wind and snow. But space weather - variable conditions in the space surrounding Earth - has important consequences for our lives inside Earth's atmosphere. Solar activity occurring miles outside Earth's atmosphere, for example, can trigger magnetic storms on Earth. These storms are visually stunning, but they can set our modern infrastructure spinning. On Jan. 19, scientists saw a solar flare in an active region of the Sun, along with a concentrated blast of solar-wind plasma and magnetic field lines known as a coronal mass ejection that burst from the Sun's surface and appeared to be headed for Earth. When these solar winds met Earth's magnetic field, the interaction created one of the largest magnetic storms on Earth recorded in the past few years. The storm peaked on Jan. 24, just as another storm began. "These new storms, and the storm we witnessed on Sept 26, 2011, indicate the up-tick in activity coming with the Earth's ascent into the next solar maximum," said USGS geophysicist Jeffrey Love." This solar maximum is the period of greatest activity in the solar cycle of the Sun, and it is predicted to occur sometime in 2013, which will increase the amount of magnetic storms on Earth. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240850-USGS-monitors-Earth-s-magnetic-field-to-prepare-citizens-for-magnetic-storms Mon, 30 Jan 2012 09:20:15 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240824-Video-What-was-that-thing-Enormous-fireball-entering-atmosphere-over-Northern-Europe-on-Christmas-Eve-2011 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240824-Video-What-was-that-thing-Enormous-fireball-entering-atmosphere-over-Northern-Europe-on-Christmas-Eve-2011 Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:52:20 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240823-Rhode-Island-US-Extremely-bright-unexpected-meteor-caught-on-camera Rare Fireball Meteor caught on Camera by Ladd Observatory in Rhode Island - Jan 19, 2012 "Last week, scientists at Brown University's Ladd Observatory noticed something very unusual showing up on their overnight sky camera. The skies in Providence were clear on January 19 when a fireball meteor appeared around 3 a.m. The camera, mounted on the roof of Observatory rolls overnight automatically and often records expected meteor showers. But this one was a pleasant surprise." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240823-Rhode-Island-US-Extremely-bright-unexpected-meteor-caught-on-camera Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:46:18 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240806-These-Pesky-Cometary-err-Satellite-Fragments-Space-Station-s-Orbit-Raised-to-Avoid-Collision-with-Space-Junk Specialists of Russia's Mission Control Center raised the orbit altitude of the International Space Station (ISS) in the early hours of Sunday to prevent a possible collision with a Chinese satellite fragment, a spokesman for the Center said. "The maneuver was performed using Zvezda service module engines," the spokesman said. The altitude of the ISS orbit was raised by 1.7 kilometers to 391.6 kilometers, he said, adding that the maneuver lasted 64 seconds. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240806-These-Pesky-Cometary-err-Satellite-Fragments-Space-Station-s-Orbit-Raised-to-Avoid-Collision-with-Space-Junk Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:24:46 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240771-US-Rare-Fireball-Meteor-Caught-on-Camera Rare fireball meteor caught on camera: wpri.com Providence, Rhode Island - Last week, scientists at Brown University's Ladd Observatory noticed something very unusual showing up on their overnight sky camera. The skies in Providence were clear on January 19 when a fireball meteor appeared around 3 a.m. The camera, mounted on the roof of Observatory rolls overnight automatically and often records expected meteor showers. But this one was a pleasant surprise. The cameras captured the meteor as it vaporized into the atmosphere. The video shows a flash from the meteor, then there's the trail of smoke in the air which lingers for about 10 minutes after the meteor breaks up. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240771-US-Rare-Fireball-Meteor-Caught-on-Camera Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:26:13 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240742-Solar-Eclipse-over-the-USA Mark your calendar. On Sunday, May 20th, the sun is going to turn into a ring of fire. It's an annular solar eclipse--the first one in the USA in almost 18 years. An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon passes directly in front of the sun, but the lunar disk is not quite wide enough to cover the entire star. At maximum, the Moon forms a "black hole" in the center of the sun. The "path of annularity" is a strip about 300 km wide and thousands of km long. It stretches from China and Japan, across the Pacific Ocean, to the middle of North America. In the United States, the afternoon sun will become a luminous ring in places such as Medford, Oregon; Chico, California; Reno, Nevada; St. George, Utah; Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Lubbock, Texas. Outside of this relatively narrow zone, the eclipse will be partial. Observers almost everywhere west of the Mississippi will see a crescent-shaped sun as the Moon passes by off-center. "I like to compare different types of eclipses on a scale of 1 to 10 as visual spectacles," says NASA's leading eclipse expert, Fred Espenak of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "If a partial eclipse is a 5 then an annular eclipse is a 9." http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240742-Solar-Eclipse-over-the-USA Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:51:56 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240739-Nova-Scotia-Canada-Reports-of-glowing-ball-likely-a-small-meteorite-expert-says People thought they saw a glowing red fireball streaked across Nova Scotia's night sky Thursday and they were likely right. "It's probably a fireball. They're actually fairly common," Alan Strauss, with the Mt. Lemmon Sky Center in Arizona, said Friday. Strauss said the glowing ball that appeared to travel from west to east over the Halifax area was a small meteorite, which is often described as a fireball. Often people just don't look up that much and miss these celestial wonders, said Strauss in an interview from Tucson. Many commentators on Nova Scotia blogs have been chatting up a storm about the stunning sight, describing a glowing ball as first green, then changing to a fuchsia-coloured streak travelling across the sky around 9:30 p.m. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240739-Nova-Scotia-Canada-Reports-of-glowing-ball-likely-a-small-meteorite-expert-says Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:43:04 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240732-Bus-sized-asteroid-shaves-Earth-with-one-day-s-notice An asteroid about the size of a bus shaved by Earth on Friday in what space watchers described as a "near-miss," though experts were not concerned about the possibility of an impact. The asteroid, named 2012 BX34, measured between six and 19 meters in diameter (20 to 62 feet), said Gareth Williams, associate director of the U.S.-based Minor Planet Center which tracks space objects. The asteroid, which had been unknown before it popped into view from a telescope in Arizona on Wednesday, came within about 60,000 kilometers (37,000 miles) of Earth on Friday at about 1500 GMT, he said. "It's a near miss. It makes the top 20 list of closest approaches ever observed," Williams told AFP. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240732-Bus-sized-asteroid-shaves-Earth-with-one-day-s-notice Sat, 28 Jan 2012 09:23:15 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240714-Bad-Boy-Sunspot-Unleashes-Powerful-X-Class-Flare The active region on the Sun that created all the hubbub and aurorae earlier this week put out one last shot before that area of the Sun turns away from Earth's view, and that shot was a biggie. At 18:37 UT (1:37 pm EST) today (January 27, 2012) sunspot 1402 unleashed an X-class flare, the largest and most powerful category of flares. This flare was measured as an X2, which is at the low end of the highest powered flares, but still, this is the most powerful flare so far this year. It was not directed at Earth, but scientists from the Solar Dynamics Observatory say the energetic protons accelerated by the blast are now surrounding our planet and a S1-class radiation storm is in progress. S1-class is the lowest of 5 (S1 to S5) and has no biological impact, no satellite operations are impacted but some minor impact on HF radio could be experienced. With all the activity from the Sun, you might need a refresher course in solar flares. Here's a guide from SDO, and what all the different classifications are: http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240714-Bad-Boy-Sunspot-Unleashes-Powerful-X-Class-Flare Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:33:42 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240665-8-Meter-Wide-Asteroid-Will-Pass-Close-to-Earth-January-27 A small asteroid will pass extremely close to Earth tomorrow (January 27, 2012). Named 2012 BX34, this 8 meter- (26-foot-) wide space rock will skim Earth less than 60,000 km (37,000 miles, .0004 AU), at around 16:00 UTC, according to the Minor Planet Center. The latest estimates have it traveling at about about 500 meters/minute (1,643.17 ft/minute). 2012 BX34 has been observed by the Catalina Sky Survey and the Mt. Lemmon Survey in Arizona, and the Magdalena Ridge Observatory in New Mexico, so its orbit is well defined and there is no risk of impact to Earth. Amateur astronomers in the right place and time could view this object, as it should be about magnitude 14 at the time of closest approach. Nick Howes, with the Faulkes Telescope Project said his team is hoping to observe and image the asteroid, and we hope to share their images later. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240665-8-Meter-Wide-Asteroid-Will-Pass-Close-to-Earth-January-27 Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:04:46 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240658-Planet-looks-back-at-northern-lights The skies are settling down after this week's big solar storm, leaving behind a gallery of green-glowing pictures as a lasting legacy. For a time on Tuesday, the solar radiation levels registered as the highest in more than eight years, but the most significant impact came in the form of shifts in airline routes to avoid polar disruptions in communications. Strong solar storms have the potential to disrupt electrical grids and satellite operations, but no big problems were reported on those fronts this week. "Conditions are now beginning to trend back toward quiet levels," the experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center reported today. By Thursday, geomagnetic activity is expected to be back down to background levels. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240658-Planet-looks-back-at-northern-lights Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:25:44 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240655-RAF-Big-bang-in-Grimsby-UK-wasn-t-us The Royal Air Force has said none of its planes were responsible for what many have called a "sonic boom" over Grimsby. As reported, the Grimsby Telegraph received many calls from residents who had heard what sounded like a large explosion at about 7pm on Wednesday. Initial fears that there had been an explosion were quickly allayed and theories turned to the possibility of a sonic boom from a plane. Initially, these suggestions appeared to be legitimate when it was revealed that the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is currently carrying out a low-flying operation named "Exercise Lightning Force" in the area. However, when contacted by the Grimsby Telegraph, Squadron Leader Nikki Stacey, based at Headquarters Air Command, said the noise had not been caused by an RAF aircraft, adding there was "nothing reported" from any of the forces' "fast jet units". Gareth Stringer, deputy editor of Global Aviation Resource magazine, said: "A sonic boom occurs when an aeroplane breaks the sound barrier and the noise that you hear is the shockwave of area around the aircraft. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240655-RAF-Big-bang-in-Grimsby-UK-wasn-t-us Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:18:12 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240641-Meterorite-Hunters-Hundreds-of-Meteorites-Uncovered-in-Antarctica A gang of heavily insulated scientists has wrapped up its Antarctic expedition, with its members thawing out from the experience, but pleased to have bagged more than 300 space rocks. They are participants in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program, or ANSMET for short. Since 1976, ANSMET researchers have been recovering thousands of meteorite specimens from the East Antarctic ice sheet. ANSMET is funded by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation. According to the ANSMET website, the specimens are currently the only reliable, continuous source of new, nonmicroscopic extraterrestrial material. Given that there are no active planetary sample-return missions coming or going at the moment, the retrieval of meteorites is the cheapest and only guaranteed way to recover new things from worlds beyond the Earth. [Photos: Asteroids in Deep Space ] http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240641-Meterorite-Hunters-Hundreds-of-Meteorites-Uncovered-in-Antarctica Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:21:44 -0600 http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240630-Flights-Rerouted-as-Massive-Solar-Storm-Slams-Earth Solar radiation from a massive sun storm -- the largest in nearly a decade -- collided with the Earth's atmosphere, prompting an airline to reroute flights and skywatchers to seek out spectacular light displays. US carrier Delta Air Lines said it had adjusted flight routes for transpolar journeys between Asia and the United States to avoid problems caused by the radiation storm, a spokesman said. NASA confirmed the coronal mass ejection (CME) began colliding with Earth's magnetic field around 10:00 AM (1500 GMT) Tuesday, adding that the storm was now being considered the largest since October 2003. Radiation storms are not harmful to humans, on Earth at least, according to the US space agency. They can, however, affect satellite operations and short wave radio. The storm's radiation, likely to continue bombarding Earth's atmosphere through Wednesday, and its possible disruption to satellite communications in the polar regions prompted the flight rerouting, airline officials said. Atlanta-based Delta, the world's second largest airline, said "a handful" of routes had their journey adjusted "based on potential impact" of the solar storm on communications equipment, spokesman Anthony Black told AFP. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/240630-Flights-Rerouted-as-Massive-Solar-Storm-Slams-Earth Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:57:50 -0600