Fire in the SkyS


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Blue meteor fireball streaks over Texas, sonic boom reported

Texas meteor fireball
© K. Palivec, AMS
Texas is fully living up to shining "big and bright" after it appears a meteor streaked across the sky Thursday night.

In the Killeen area, video from Christopher Cato shows the burst of light caught on his dash camera as it traveled through the atmosphere.

Others in central Texas said they heard a loud boom.

One woman in Hempstead told ABC13 meteorologist Travis Herzog she spotted the blue flash, which bloomed into a turquoise jewel tone as it raced across the night sky.

Viewer Mary Ann Miron reported that she saw something unusual explode in the sky around 9:30 p.m. west of Highway 6 on FM 1736.

"A giant ball like a meteorite changed the rainbow spectrum of colors until it turned into a beautiful turquoise," Miron said. "I've seen shooting stars, but this was HUGE and colorful!"


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Kaboom! Residents report loud boom in Natchez, Mississippi

Mystery boom in Natchez, MS
© fairviewinn.com
Several residents of downtown Natchez said they heard a loud boom noise in the area at approximately 11 p.m. Tuesday.

"Did anyone else hear that super loud noise downtown Natchez?!" Sarah Lindsey Laukhuff posted on social media Tuesday night not long after she said she heard the noise.

Laukhuff's social media post generated several responses with a few people commenting saying they also had heard the noise.

"People said it could have been a transformer," Laukhuff said Wednesday afternoon. "I heard it. It was one big kaboom!"

Laukhuff, who lives on South Commerce Street, said some of her neighbors called her last night saying they had heard the noise, too.

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Two mystery 'explosions' heard across large parts of Doncaster, UK

Mysterious explosions in Doncaster, UK
© Doncaster Free Press
Two mystery 'explosions' were heard across large parts of Doncaster early this morning.

People across town reported hearing two loud bangs with residents in Edenthorpe, Kirk Sandall and Barnby Dun among those hearing the noise between 5.30am and 6am.

On Facebook, Fiona Stocks wrote: "what the hell were those two explosion sounds just now? They were too loud for a firework surely."

Nicola Bloore said: "I heard them as well," and Hilary Clayton said: "We heard them as well couldn't make out what they were."

Sharon Williamson posted: "Same sounds I heard last week too at about 4.50."

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Astronomers spot 2 meteor fireballs in 2 hours over southern Spain - 4 for the region in November

space rocks
© Shutterstock
Astronomers at an observatory in Central Spain said they spotted two pieces of debris from space falling over the skies of southern Spain yesterday (Sunday).

Scientists at the La Hita observatory in Toledo said the fireballs, one a comet and the other an asteroid, fell within around two hours of each other.

They were also sighted by observers in the Calar Alto observatory in Almeria Province and those at the Granada Province-based La Sagra.

The first debris fell over Spain at around 2.08am yesterday morning. A University of Huelva team who analysed footage of it said it travelled over Andalucia at around 72,000 kilometres per hour before breaking up about 42 kilometres above Jaen Province.


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Meteor fireball caught on camera in Loughborough, UK

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A fireball - thought to be an exploding meteor - has been spotted in the sky over Leicestershire.

Amateur astronomer Derek Robson captured the spectacle from his back garden in Loughborough.

Dr Robert Massey, deputy executive director of the Royal Astronomical Society, confirmed the footage appeared to show a genuine fireball.

He said they occur in the UK a number of times each year but they were difficult to predict, so witnessing one or capturing it on camera came down to being in the right place at the right time.


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Bright meteor fireball on Nov.11 over Jaén, Spain - 3rd for the month in the region

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Stock image
This bright meteor event was spotted over southern Spain on 11 Nov. 2018 at 2:08 local time (1:08 universal time). It was generated by a rock from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 72,000 km/h. The meteor overflew the province of Jaén.

It began at an altitude of about 90 km and ended at a height of around 42 km.

The event was recorded in the framework of the SMART project (University of Huelva) from the meteor-observing stations located at La Hita (Toledo), Calar Alto (Almeria), La Sagra (Granada) and Sevilla.


Comment: For details of the 2 other records, see: Meteor fireball over the south of Spain brighter than the full moon

Bright meteor fireball shoots across the sky of Andalusia, Spain - Second for the region within 28 hours


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Video taken of meteor fireball near Lexington, Kentucky

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Dust associated with Comet Encke hits the Earth's atmosphere at 65,000 mph creating the Taurid meteor shower. Video of fireball near Lexington, KY taken Thursday, November 8th.

The Taurids are actually two separate showers, with a Southern and a Northern component. The Southern Taurids originated from Comet Encke and are active from September 10th to November 20th. They are known for being rich with fireballs. By the way, a fireball is just another word for a meteor brighter than the planet Venus. Despite the fact that we are past peak, Ron Malinowski saw this a couple hours ago looking north from Lexington, KY...



Question

Loud, building-rattling boom sounds off over Tillamook, Oregon

Loud boom in OR
© iStock
It rattled windows, shook buildings and sounded like a thunder clap out the front door.

At about 10 a.m. Monday, a sonic boom struck Tillamook - the result of an aircraft breaking the sound barrier.

"911 had numerous calls about it," Tillamook County Emergency Management Director Gordon McCraw said. "One dispatcher said someone called wanting to report an explosion."

Prior to the knowledge that a sonic boom ripped across the Tillamook sky, McCraw heard and read comments that placed the blame on an earthquake and people curious if a vehicle had hit their building.

"A majority of the time, a loud boom is an aircraft," he said, "And you can assume it's a sonic boom and not an explosion."

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Bright meteor fireball shoots across the sky of Andalusia, Spain - Second for the region within 28 hours

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The fragment extinguished around 63 kilometers above the municipality of Pueblo Blanco in Almeria

This is the moment a comet fragment turned into a fireball over Andalucia.

A piece of the Encke comet entered Earth's atmosphere at more than 100,000km/hr.

According to the Astrohita Foundation, the fireball was visible from 400km away and was detected by observatories in Granada and Sevilla.


Comment: The night prior to this event another unusually luminous fireball also fell over the region, see: Meteor fireball over the south of Spain brighter than the full moon

The first occurred on the 3rd of November and the second on the 4th (see time stamp on the video above).


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Meteor fireball over the south of Spain brighter than the full moon

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
This stunning North Taurid meteor event was spotted over the south of Spain on 3 Nov. 2017 at 0:46 local time (23:46 universal time on 2 Nov.). It was brighter than the full Moon.

It was produced by a fragment from Comet Encke that hit the atmosphere at about 110,000 km/h.

The event overflew the Mediterranean Sea and the province of Almeria. It began at an altitude of about 122 km and ended at a height of around 63 km.

The meteor was recorded in the framework of the SMART project (University of Huelva) from the meteor-observing stations located at La Hita (Toledo), Sierra Nevada (Granada), La Sagra (Granada) and Sevilla.