Fire in the Sky
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."
"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."
© NASA
International Space Station
International Space Station
"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.
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.
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."
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.
© D. L. Mammana
"The ring of fire:" Astrophotographer Dennis L. Mammana photographed this annular eclipse behind palm trees in January 1994.
"The ring of fire:" Astrophotographer Dennis L. Mammana photographed this annular eclipse behind palm trees in January 1994.
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."
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.
"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.
© NASA
An orbital diagram puts the orbit of asteroid 2012 BX34 in perspective, in relation to the orbits of Earth and Venus.
An orbital diagram puts the orbit of asteroid 2012 BX34 in perspective, in relation to the orbits of Earth and Venus.
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.
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:
© JPL
Orbital parameters of Asteroid 2012 BX34 from JPL's Small Body Database.
Orbital parameters of Asteroid 2012 BX34 from JPL's Small Body Database.
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.
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.
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.
© Göran Strand
Göran Strand of Östersund, Sweden, took a panoramic photo of Tuesday night's sights and wrapped it into a 360-degree composition titled "Planet Aurora.
Göran Strand of Östersund, Sweden, took a panoramic photo of Tuesday night's sights and wrapped it into a 360-degree composition titled "Planet Aurora.
Comment: A rare event? Somebody hasn't been keeping up with SOTT.net!