© Screenshot via You Tube/Live Petrozavodsk
Most probably a meteor exploding and lighting up the city for a brief moment on February 11, 2016 just before midnight.
Fire in the Sky
Most probably a meteor exploding and lighting up the city for a brief moment on February 11, 2016 just before midnight.
Yesterday, a Plymouth retiree came forward to say she had also witnessed a white flash a few weeks ago, which radiated from the same area as the orange illumination had appeared on February 9. Jenni Robertson was driving home from Bristol when she was dazzled by a white light which lasted for a few seconds. The 66-year-old retiree was making her way back from Flyball training with her collie, Tilli, when she saw the fleeting flash just past Lee Mill on the way into Yealmpton on January 31.
The Staddiscombe resident opted to take a different route home through Lee Mill that evening to avoid roadworks on the A38 by Deep Lane, and as she was driving through a back lane, she spotted the flash to her right of her windscreen. "It was a clear night and quite cold, so I figured it couldn't have been lighting,"
Jenni said. "At around 9:30pm, I saw a huge flash in the sky on my drivers side of the van towards Ivybridge- it wasn't too high as I could see if from the window. "It was just like a speed camera going off- it lasted a couple of seconds and then it was gone again." Jenni didn't think much of the glow until witnesses came forward with claims about a similar orange flash which came from a similar direction.
Ground worker Sam Ho says he was coming out of his house in Yealmpstone Drive at 7am two days ago when he witnessed the dazzling light, as he looked in the direction of Ivybridge. Sam said the massive flash was "quite impressive" and suspects it could have been a meteorite.
© Getty Images
It happened early Wednesday morning around 5:30am.
The Planetarium's Scott Young tells MyToba.ca it was probably a smaller space rock.
"I didn't see it, but based on reports it could've been caused by an object from the size of a quarter up to a basketball."
They're what cause so-called 'shooting stars.' Space is full of them.
Triangulating meteors
Young says the Manitoba Museum collects information about reported sightings.
When the object is large and many reports are collected, astronomers can use the information to triangulate the position.
"We've only had two or three objects in the last twenty years where we've gone out to do a search."
In those cases, they're referred to as fireballs or bolides.
Good luck finding one
Young says the object is usually only visible when it's still kilometres above the planet.
"It actually falls the last dozen or so kilometres without any visible trail. So the odds are, if you saw it in the sky, it didn't land near you."
© News Mail
Was it a meteor that lit up Queensland?
Was it a meteor that lit up Queensland?
"Was walking back from shed, heard something from the sky as I looked up something seemed to have exploded, sparks went in three different directions. "I've seen plenty shooting stars, this was not one, or it was huge. The rumbling continued for a couple of minutes, nothing since."
Margie Ryan, also from Bundaberg, said she was left puzzled by the sighting. "Was inside. Saw bright flash outside. About one minute later, heard a loud bang like a clap of thunder which shook the house a bit," she said.
"Checked the BoM, no storm, clear sky, so posted on Facebook." Gladstone's Rory Henricks said he thought he saw a plane in the sky "shooting fireworks out of its rear". He said at 9.20pm on Tuesday, he was riding from town to Calliope and about halfway saw the object for a second.
"Nothing, then several circular firework explosions in a line behind it, then nothing again," he said. "I flipped my visor up to have a look around, I saw some pilot lights but lost track of it. Was moving really fast and appeared to have jet engines under each wing. "I'm pretty cynical but if it wasn't a UFO it seems like someone was trying to appear like one."
Charlene Kelly Maree said she heard people had seen the object in Gladstone, while Carissa Less Hansen said she witnessed it. "Saw it in Maryborough, Queensland, but didn't hear the noise," she said. Dell Holdings said she saw a flash but thought it was lightening. "It woke me from my sleep, no noise," she said.
© American Meteor Society
The American Meteor Society shows areas in Southern California where people reported seeing the meteor. The highest number of sightings are depicted in red.
The American Meteor Society shows areas in Southern California where people reported seeing the meteor. The highest number of sightings are depicted in red.
"More than 110 witnesses have reported a large blue-green fireball over Southern California on Februray 11th around 6:35am PT (14:35 UT)," the AMS says online. "The fireball was seen primarily from California but witnesses from Arizona also reported seeing the fireball."
The eyewitnesses include Francis French, education director at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. He saw the meteor while he was driving to work on state Road 94.
"The front of the light looked like the arc of a welder's torch; it was blue and incredibly bright," said Francis French, education director at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park. "And it had a yellowish tail that was very textured."
Another eyewitness, Harold McManus, said, "I was accessing Sunset Cliffs via Pt. Loma Nazarine University campus. I was on the bluffs about to climb down to the beach when I saw it. It came in from the north almost horizontal. It had a slight downward accent as it headed to the south. I was looking west over the ocean.
" It was spectacular. Bright green like a welders arc with a long tail and relatively slow moving. It fragmented into several pieces as it died. They looked like little sparks. I looked at my watch as I was going to report it to the AMS. It was 6:37. The sky was starting to get light."
© Wikimedia Commons
A meteor during the peak of the 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower. The photograph shows the meteor, afterglow, and wake as distinct components.
A meteor during the peak of the 2009 Leonid Meteor Shower. The photograph shows the meteor, afterglow, and wake as distinct components.
The paper said many residents captured the object with their mobile phones and quoted well-known Saudi astronomer Khaled Al Zuaq as saying he believes it was a meteor.
"The object appeared to be a large meteor which was seen crossing the Saudi skies at around 10.30 pm," he said.
© Youtube/Bramon (screen capture)
© JVCastro
Meteoroid Flight Path
Meteoroid Flight Path
Meteor fireball captured from Germany
Bo Michael Hansen from Roskilde wrote on TV 2 News' Facebook-profile:
"Bright flash, very loud boom followed by a long-lasting rumble for 20-30 seconds, at Roskilde. Birds awoke and started chirping in the gardens and nearby wetlands. As a part-time fire-fighter I was on my way out of the door, as I thought it was a powerful explosion."Anette Glentvor in Vesterbro wrote:
"The sky was gradually lit fully up. After that the sky turned green and ended with a short purple flash. About five minutes afterwards, a long rumbling was heard. It sounded like thunder, except that the sound continued for a very long time."Camilla Hansen, from Køge, wrote:
"We could see and hear it also in Køge. Several people I know saw flashes of light and I heard a big bang. The lights in my window shook and it was scary. I thought it was an earthquake."
© UACN
The UAE Astronomical Cameras Network (UACN) consists of sky-pointed astronomical cameras located at several locations in the United Arab Emirates, which automatically record a video file once a meteor is detected.
© H. Raab
People are encouraged to report their observations and any possible findings of a meteorite to ildkugle.dk or stjerneskud.info
People are encouraged to report their observations and any possible findings of a meteorite to ildkugle.dk or stjerneskud.info
On Saturday night, hundreds of Danes witnessed a spectacular phenomenon as the sky suddenly lit up and a loud bang from an explosion echoed across northeastern Zealand, reports DR.
According to Johan Fynbo, a professor of astronomy at the Niels Bohr Institute, everything indicates a meteorite hit Denmark at about 10 pm.
"It must have been a relatively large meteorite. Not the size of a car, but perhaps the size of a handball," Fynbo told DR.
As a meteorite passes through the Earth's atmosphere, it burns and creates a visible flash of light in the sky. The bigger the meteorite, the stronger the light, explained Fynbo.
Comment: Another video of the event: