Fire in the SkyS


Meteor

UK: Search Mission After Fisherman and Pilot Mistake Meteorite for Crashing Plane

A meteroite falling to Earth sparked a rescue mission when a fishermen and a pilot mistook it for a plane crashing into the sea.

Air traffic controllers confirmed no aircraft were missing on Friday night as the coastguard searched waters off Herne Bay, Kent. A spokesman said: "We found nothing, so put it down to space debris."

Hundreds of meteorites were visible as the Earth passed a cosmic dust cloud over the weekend.

Meteor

UK: Meteorite crashes into sea

Image
© Unknown
A meteorite falling into the sea sparked a search and rescue mission last night after two people reported they saw a plane crash into the water off the coast of Whitstable.

Kent Fire and Rescue Service were called out after a pilot and another person both reported they saw what the thought was an aircraft crashing into the sea.

However, after firefighters from Whitstable and nearby Herne Bay scoured the area, no trace of the aircraft could be found.

Air traffic controllers, reported they didn't have any planes missing, so eventually the search was called off, and put down to a meteorite falling to Earth.

Hundreds of meteorites are expected to streak across the sky this weekend as the Earth passes through a cloud of dust left by behind by a comet called Giacobini-Zinner.

A spokesman for Kent Fire and Rescue Service said: "Two independent calls came in reporting a plane had crashed off the coast.

"Even a pilot who was looking out of his window reported a plane was in distress and had gone into the sea.

Meteor

Faulkes Team Images Trojan Jupiter Comet

New Comet
© Universe Today

Jupiter Comet

Based on an observation posted on the Near Earth Object confirmation page from an image taken by A. D. Grauer using the mount Lemmon observatory, Faulkes telescope team members Nick Howes, Giovanni Sostero and Ernesto Guido along with University of Glamorgan student Antos Kasprzyk and amateur astronomer Iain Melville, imaged what is potentially some of the first direct evidence for a Trojan Jupiter Comet.

Comet P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-GRAUER) was immediately recognised by the team from looking at the orbit to be a highly unusual object, but it was only when the images came through from the Faulkes observations that the true nature of the object became clear.

The observations showed a distinct cometary appearance, with a sharp central condensation, compact coma and a wide, fan-shaped tail.

This is no ordinary comet, and supports the theory and initial spectral observation work by a team using the keck telescope in Hawaii. Closer analysis of their object (part of a binary known as the Patroclus pair) showed that it was made of water ice and a thin layer of dust, but at the time of writing, no direct images of a Jupiter Trojan showing evidence of a coma and tail had been taken.

The Faulkes teams above image, combined with the original observations by Grauer clearly show a cometary object, thus confirming the Keck team's hypothesis.

Meteor

UFO over Sioux Falls? Experts think it was a meteor

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© File PhotoMeteors now posing as anthropogenic space junk?
Amie Neustrom doesn't have a good explanation for what she saw in the night sky near her Renner home early Wednesday.

It surprised her and happened so fast that she isn't sure whether it was a meteor or a UFO.

"I really honestly don't know what to think," she said.

It was about 3:30 a.m., and she was on her deck smoking a cigarette when the deck lit up and an orange-and-blue object streaked off, leaving a trail of smoke behind.

"It was quick ...," she said. "I've never seen anything like it. I've seen shooting stars out here. Nothing like this. It was so bright."

Meteor

US: Bright Meteor Lights Up Night Sky From Minnesota to Nebraska

Wednesday there were reports from people across the region who saw a bright flash of light in the sky about 3:30 am.

That bright flash was seen as far north as Minnesota and as far south as Lincoln, Nebraska.

Now we've learned it was a meteor streaking through the sky.

A security camera at the Lincoln airport caught the flash in action.

If you'd like your chance to see some meteors streaking across the night sky your best chance is Friday night starting at 10pm until Saturday 3am.


Meteor

New Comet Discovered: P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-GRAUER)

Linear-Grauer
© Remanzacco Observatory

Cbet nr.2867, issued on 2011, October 21, announces the discovery of a new comet (discovery magnitude 19.1) by A. D. Grauer on CCD images obtained on September 19, 2011 with the Mount Lemmon 1.5-m reflector.

According to the CBET: "After two nights of observations of Grauer's comet had been received at the Minor Planet Center, T. Spahr realized that this object was identical with an object discovered a year ago by the LINEAR project (discovery observation tabulated below; cf. MPS 351583) that appeared to be a Jupiter Trojan minor planet."

The new comet has been designated P/2010 TO20 (LINEAR-GRAUER).

We performed follow-up measurements of this object on 2 different nights, while it was still on the neocp.

Meteor

US Nebraska: Lost From Space - Where is Meteorite That Lit Up Lincoln's Night Sky?

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© Courtesy imagesThese images, which were pulled from video taken at the Lincoln Airport,
show the object moving across the sky.
The fireball fell from the sky -- streaking the colors of the rainbow and trailing smoke -- at 3:24 a.m., while most of Nebraska was sleeping.

Except for Greg, a ServiceMaster employee, who saw it from Lincoln Airport's parking garage. And Aaron, a TSA employee, who saw it from the interstate. And two citizens concerned enough to call 911.

And a sheriff's deputy, who was dispatched to search for a bright spot on the dark ground near Pawnee Lake, northwest of Lincoln.

And the surveillance camera (which never sleeps) mounted in the car rental return lot north of the airport terminal.

It recorded a black sky most of the night. But at about 42 seconds past 3:24, a streak appeared in the northwest. It stretched out, flared, seemed to spawn a pair of fireballs and disappeared behind the horizon.

Then phones started ringing.

Meteor

US: Mystery Object Reported In Sky

Omaha, Nebraska -- Many people reported seeing a bright flash of light moving across the sky early Wednesday, but it's unclear what it was exactly.

Several people from the Omaha area called KETV to report seeing the object about 3:24 a.m. A security camera at the Lincoln airport seemed to capture the mystery object moving at a fast rate above the horizon. People also called the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office after the object appeared and then disappeared in the sky.

"There was a large flash of light. The caller thought it might be a meteorite of some sort. And we got a couple of different calls on the object," Sheriff Terry Wagner said. Deputies rushed to where callers thought the object may have landed -- some six miles outside of Lincoln.

"[We] were unable to locate any debris or damage," Wagner said.

There were reports that the object was seen as far away as southwest Minnesota.

Watch security footage here.

Meteor

US: Bright Flash Lights Up Sky

Truckers and at least one law officer all reported seeing a very brief but very bright flash in the sky just before 3:30 a.m. Wednesday morning. Trucker Klye Moulds was on U.S. Highway 2 east of Devils Lake, North Dakota when he saw what looked like lightning. It was colored with red, blue and green.

Another trucker near Oriska, N.D. says it was so bright he should have had sunglasses on.

A Walsh County deputy sheriff also saw the flash, which was described as a red orb.

The best guess is that the bright light was part of the Orionid meteor shower which will peak this weekend. The meteor shower occurs each October as the earth passes through a trail of dust left by Halley's comet.

Meteor

US: California - Numerous meteors seen falling Tuesday morning?

Temecula - A spray of objects racing across the sky about 6:30 a.m. Tuesday east of Temecula was photographed by Chaparral High School student Karina Reyes.

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© Karina Reyes
Don Yeomans of NASA's Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena said at least one of the objects could be part of the annual Orionid meteor shower ---- meteors left behind by Halley's Comet. The meteors became noticeable on Monday and should peak on Saturday morning.