© Reuters / Ali jareji
The Leonid is expected to be best visible in the early hours of the morning on Monday, between 2am and 4am.
Fire in the Sky
The Leonid is expected to be best visible in the early hours of the morning on Monday, between 2am and 4am.
© Creative Commons
NASA just announced when a giant asteroid, known as JF1, would hit Earth if it continues on its current trajectory - and it's not too far from now.
The American space agency predicted that a 128-meter-long space rock - the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt - could collide with our planet on 6 May 2022, potentially causing devastating consequences by wiping out an entire city just in seconds and causing millions of deaths.
As JF1 is believed to strike the Earth with a power of 230 kilotons of TNT - 15 times higher than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima that was equivalent in energy to 15 kilotons of TNT.
© NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA
Gennady Borisov has been contacted by the International Astronomical Union about his latest discovery.
Gennady Borisov has been contacted by the International Astronomical Union about his latest discovery.
The new comet, traveling at roughly 30km per second in the patch of sky between the Lynx and Cancer constellations, marks the ninth stellar object Borisov has discovered. Unlike his previously discovered comet, dubbed 2I/Borisov, this one is a resident of our solar system.
"I discovered a new comet in early November. I have just received a letter from the Minor Planet Center of the International Astronomical Union. This is not an interstellar comet. It's an ordinary one, which is a solar system object. It got the name C2019V1 (Borisov). This is a confirmed discovery," Borisov told TASS news agency.
© Screenshot/AMS American Meteor Society
Earthcam footage captures the moment in which a fireball streaks across the Missouri nighttime sky near St. Louis' Gateway Arch.
Earthcam footage captures the moment in which a fireball streaks across the Missouri nighttime sky near St. Louis' Gateway Arch.
Local news station KMOV reported that the jaw-dropping meteor was spotted "from Columbia to St. Charles County and into St. Louis County and south St. Louis City," before disappearing into the night over Wellsville.
Reports of a fireball - a bright, slow-moving meteor - began to emerge at roughly 8:45 p.m. local time, with some residents reporting that the flashing rock was accompanied by the sound of a loud boom.
© YouTube/AMS/Alexandre M.
© AMS
Both stations reported that local residents saw a flash of light and loud noise at about 8:55 p.m. local time (9:55 p.m. ET). Twitter user David Vergel posted footage from an EarthCam aimed at the city's iconic Gateway Arch of the object streaking through the atmosphere, while other locals appear to have picked up the event on home security cameras. The Northern Taurid meteor shower, which is known for brighter-than-usual meteors called fireballs, was expected to peak on Monday night into the early hours of Tuesday with St. Louis just on the eastern edge of the highest visibility region on the map, KSDK reported.
I was watching an @EarthCam camera from St. Louis, Missouri about 30 minutes ago and saw a #meteor! pic.twitter.com/PVAvIGlALF
— David Vergel (@DavidVergel97) November 12, 2019
© urikyo33 / Pixabay
Asteroid 2019 UN12 is estimated to measure between 110m-250m (360-820.21ft), or roughly five Statues of Liberty standing on top of each other, and will whizz past the Earth on Wednesday at a whopping 64,467mph.
Thankfully, it will speed by at a relatively safe distance of 892,294 miles (1,436,008km), farther than many of the more recent close asteroid flybys in recent weeks.
Comment: Notice the shift in the article to how useful near earth objects could be. Why isn't more attention being paid to the sheer number of NEOs, along with what should be the alarming increase in the number of "moons" being discovered around Jupiter and Saturn. The outer planets, especially the gas giants are capable of vacuuming up space rocks, but not all of them. We appear to be entering a region of space with a much higher density of cosmic debris. Dangerous times.
- NASA: Previously unknown asteroid has a near miss with Earth
- Asteroid 3 times larger than Chelyabinsk making close approach... TODAY!
- WISE recently spotted Asteroid 2014 HQ124 - It's half a mile wide and it's coming close on June 8
- Bus-sized asteroid shaves Earth with one day's notice
- House-Size Asteroid Zooms Close by Earth
- Astronomers discover 12 new moons orbiting Jupiter
- Saturn surpasses Jupiter after discovery of 20 new moons
- Hubble Confirms Pluto's New Moons
- High levels of recently deposited cosmic dust found on rooftops in 3 major European cities
- Something Wicked This Way Comes
© Myron W.
The meteor was seen about 7:40 p.m. from New York to North Carolina, with several reports from the D.C. area, including Leesburg and Vienna.
The fireball (another term for a very bright meteor), is likely part of the annual Taurid meteor shower, which peaks this week.
Every year from September to November, the Earth passes through a broad stream of debris left by Comet Encke, according to NASA.
© WSOC-TV
"I didn't see anything," a resident said. "(I) just heard the loud explosion sound and then, we started seeing sirens."
Channel 9's Tina Terry talks to residents about the disruption and asks officials where it came from.
© Coventry Telegraph
People living across the north of the Coventry were shocked when they heard the loud bangs in the early hours.
Residents in Coundon, Allesley and even in Radford and Keresley were woken and startled by the noise.
Across social media, more than one bang was heard, with people saying it sounded louder than a firework.
One said: "I've just heard a massive bang", while another said "what the hell was that."
Comment: No, no, no. You CANNOT predict these things.
These are NOT the teensy-weensy flits you see during meteor showers. Those are 'shooting stars'.
These other things are LARGE CHUNCKS OF SPACE ROCK EXPLODING IN THE ATMOSPHERE.