Fire in the SkyS


Meteor

Denmark: Museum is Hunting Fallen Meteorite

Danish Meteor
© Orion PlanetariumHere is the meteor, as it was seen in the sky on Tuesday evening. The Natural History Museum of Denmark would now like to know, where exactly it landed.

This article below which appeared in Danish, is translated by a SOTT forum member.

The Natural History Museum of Denmark is interested in hearing from witnesses who saw the meteor.

Several Danes saw on Tuesday evening, a burning meteor in the sky. It was observed from different locations in Denmark and therefore the hunt is now on for finding the meteorite, which possibly fell around Silkeborg. A meteor becomes a meteorite when it hits the ground.

Via video recordings and eyewitness reports, the Geological Museum department at the Natural History Museum, has worked out that an impact happened Tuesday evening at 8 pm south of Silkeborg.

It is however sparse with information and the geological museum is therefore asking people to report to them if they have seen or heard anything in the evening sky.

Meteor

UK: Unexplained Flash of Light and Bang Filled the Sky Above Paddock Wood

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© Unknown
Bemused residents are scratching their heads after the sound of a huge explosion rocked Paddock Wood - but the cause remains a mystery.

Homeowners in the St Andrews area were gripped by confusion as a flash of light filled the sky accompanied by an ear-splitting bang.

Police, the fire service, the Army, meteorologists and geological experts have all been unable to explain the mysterious event last Wednesday evening.

Warrington Road resident Val Dempsey told the Courier: "It was almost like a bomb had gone off."

Mrs Dempsey, 69, said she had been at home watching TV at about 7pm when she heard the noise.

Bizarro Earth

Flashback Southeast, US: Mysterious booms rock Cape Fear region

Loud booms rocked Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties starting about 6:40 p.m. today.

Callers from Oak Island, Leland and Supply told the Star-News they heard the booms and felt strong vibrations. One man said he thought his beach-front home was collapsing. Another said it shook her whole house.

A meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Wilmington said reports of the booms or vibrations were widespread, coming from Rocky Point in Pender County to Leland in Brunswick County.

The Brunswick County 911 center's switchboard lit up with calls from people reporting explosions or loud booms.

A dispatcher said the center had not confirmed the source of the loud noises.

Question

Something is shaking the southeast, US: What is causing the 'booms'?

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© Unknown
Something is shaking the southeast and has been for quite some time.

Carolina Beach resident Jody Smith was enjoying a Saturday morning with her son Roman when she felt and heard a 'boom.' Her son walked to her and asked, "Mommy, what was that?" Smith didn't know how to respond.

Many people in her neighborhood ran outside in hopes of finding the source of the noise.

"It feels like a Mack truck driving by and it just shakes your whole house," said neighbor Paula Powell.

"It's a shaking feeling," Smith added. "More than thunder and more than a truck going by. Initially that is what it sounded like but it turned into something more than that and I guess more movement. I went to Facebook and I asked, 'Did anyone else just feel a small earthquake?' And within minutes people were posting from all over town saying, 'I felt it in Mayfaire,' 'I felt it in Pine Valley.'"

Meteor

Illinois, US: UFO over Oswego? You've gotta see it to believe it ...

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Brandon Tudor and his 10-year-old daughter Elizabeth spotted a strange "flaming object" in the evening sky as he was driving along U.S. Route 30 in Oswego on Sunday,March 6, 2011. Tudor took these photos with his camera phone.
Brandon Tudor swears he's not seeing things. And he's got his iPhone and 10-year-old daughter to prove it.

The young Oswego salesman and father of three was dropping Elizabeth off at her mom's house in Lakewood Creek subdivision on Route 30 in Montgomery early last Sunday evening when he spotted it in the western sky.

It appeared to be a ball of fire falling toward earth at a 45-degree angle. Suddenly, he says, the flame extinguished and the trail of smoke changed direction, rising to a 30-degree angle.

Tudor had time to snap four pictures before the mysterious apparition disappeared. Then, out of nowhere, father and daughter saw two jets fly into view and circle the area.


Because he was now driving in the opposite direction, Tudor doesn't know how long the planes were in the sky, but the brief episode was enough to get the juices going.

Meteor

US: Fireball UFO photographed in Illinois

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© Brandon Tudor / Beacon-NewsThe fireball UFO photographed by Tudor
Oswego, Illinois resident Brandon Tudor photographed a fireball UFO in the sky on Sunday evening. Tudor described the object as a ball of fire falling towards Earth. According to the Beacon-News, the witness stated that the object changed direction as it fell. Tudor also claims that he saw "two jets fly into view and circle the area" after the UFO disappeared. He took four pictures of the UFO on his iPhone before the object vanished.

Sun

Powerful X1.5 Class Solar Flare

March 9th ended with a powerful solar flare. Earth-orbiting satellites detected an X1.5-class explosion from behemoth sunspot 1166 around 2323 UT. A movie from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory shows a bright flash of UV radiation plus some material being hurled away from the blast site:


A first look at coronagraph images from NASA's STEREO-B spacecraft suggests that the explosion did propel a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. This conclusion is preliminary, however, so check back later for updates.

After four years without any X-flares, the sun has produced two of the powerful blasts in less than one month: Feb. 15th and March 9th. This continues the recent trend of increasing solar activity, and shows that Solar Cycle 24 is heating up. NOAA forecasters estimate a 5% chance of more X-flares during the next 24 hours.

Meteor

Fireball Over Italy - 8th March

A fireball reported over Italy. A still below from the video.

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A flash video of the fireball can be viewed here.

Sun

Stunning Views of the Sun...and Discovery?!

Amateur astrophotographer Alan Friedman has done it again. Adding to an already impressive collection of outer space images, he just published two more magnificent photos of the sun. First, here's a view of a gassy prominence flaring off the sun like a cloud:

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© Alan FriedmanThis section of the solar disk was imaged at the Winter Star Party on West Summerland Key in Florida, in the midst of 30 mph winds. The massive detached solar prominence was visible for hours. Skies were quite steady, despite the wind.
To add some perspective on the sheer magnitude of what Friedman is documenting, look at the dark spot below the prominence. That spot is roughly twice the size of the Earth.

Using the same specialized equipment he used in October 2010 to produce the last set of breathtaking images, Friedman looks at the deep red end of the light spectrum to capture the emissions given off by hydrogen gas in the sun's atmosphere.

He also came away with a historic glimpse of Discovery as it was docked to the International Space Station, during the space shuttle's final mission.

Friedman said he captured the event, lasting just a fifth of a second, after making an 1,800-mile drive from Buffalo, N.Y., to the Winter Star Party in West Summerland Key, Fla.

Question

Ohio, US: Newark Police Puzzled By Mystery 'Boom'

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© Unknown

Police were investigating the cause of a mysterious noise on Monday after multiple people reported hearing it and feeling it.

Residents living in the area of Idlewilde and Weiant avenues called police on Sunday afternoon to report what sounded and felt like a loud explosion.