Fire in the SkyS


Fireball 2

Enormous fireball breaks apart over UK and Ireland, 22 May 2013


lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com
Fri, 24 May 2013 13:36 UTC
Initial Meteor Sighting Reports

22 May 2013 - Justin Laffan, Cork City, Ireland 22:42 GMT
6 seconds duration. I was facing north, it traveled east. Bright white colour with a slight green hue. No sound, brighter than the moon. Small fragmentation, like sparks. I was facing directly north, it appeared offset to my right at about a 30 degree inclination, and travelled east, falling about 10 degrees. I lost sight of it after about 6 seconds.
22 May 2013 - Gary Hanratty, Lurgan, Co. Armagh, N. Ireland 22:38 GMT
4 seconds duration. North to south direction. White colour, as bright as the Moon. 5-6 pieces broke off. Awesome.
22 May 2013 - Jessica, Derbyshire, England ~23h
8 seconds duration. Northwest. Fireball with purple and green tail. As bright as the Moon. Yes there was fragmentation.
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Fireball

Massive fireball seen over Ireland, Wednesday 22 May, 2013


Astronomy.ie
Fri, 24 May 2013 13:09 UTC
A massive fireball was spotted blazing across the Irish sky on Wednesday night by thousands of people across the country. We have received reports from people from all over Ireland who saw the spectacle on Wednesday, at approximately 10:45pm.
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This exceptionally big and bright meteor is known as a fireball, and can in some cases contain as much energy as an atomic bomb. Fireballs are often big enough to survive the fall through Earth's atmosphere, and can sometimes drop fragments of space rock down to Earth's surface.

The fireball is likely to be a piece of a comet or asteroid that passed near Earth's orbit sometime in the past, or the result of debris floating in space left over from when the Solar System and the planets formed billions of years ago.

If you saw the meteor, please send in your report HERE. We will gather reports and perform an analysis over the coming week. With enough results, it will be possible to determine where any meteorites may have landed!
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Fireball 4

Maryland witnesses report seeing large, bright meteor

Brian Englar
The Frederick News-Post
Wed, 22 May 2013 15:41 UTC
If you saw a bright light blazing across the sky early Saturday and thought you might be going crazy, you're not, and you're not alone. Dozens of witnesses across the state and the region reported seeing what astronomers are calling a fragmenting meteoric fireball. Witnesses saw the fireball as early as 12:18 a.m. and as late as 1 a.m., with the majority of the area sightings coming at about 12:30 a.m. Some of the witnesses also reported hearing delayed booms.

The fireball - a term used to describe an unusually bright meteor - is believed to have entered the atmosphere near Washington and traveled northwest before terminating in central Pennsylvania, according to the American Meteor Society.

The society received reports of sightings by 13 Marylanders among the 60 witnesses, who saw the meteor in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio.

Four reports were submitted by residents of Frederick County, one each from Frederick, Thurmont, Brunswick and Walkersville. Two sightings were also reported in Westminster.

"It was the brightest traveling object I have ever seen," the Walkersville witness wrote.

"It was neon bright," reported the witness in Brunswick.
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Fireball 4

Four unique fireball events fall over U.S. in 24 hour period - wide range reported


The Extinction Protocol
Mon, 20 May 2013 09:34 UTC
In the last 24 hours the AMS has received confirmed reports about 4 unique fireball events all occurring near 4:00 AM UTC time. The most recent event occurred in Arkansas and Missouri on May 19th near 3:37 UTC. At the same time 3:37 UTC 4 witnesses reported a fireball in Arizona. The distance between these two locations would inhibit witnesses from observing the same fireball from both locations. On May 18th two large fireball meteors were also spotted within an hour of each other, one over the central east coast and another in Colorado. -AMS

Google Earth users can download a KMZ file containing the trajectory estimates for these four events (you must unzip the file before opening in Google Earth). If you witnessed any of these fireball events please fill out an official fireball report.
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Fireball 2

Meteorite narrowly misses man in New Zealand

Zoe Hunter
SunLive
Fri, 17 May 2013 19:02 UTC

A Whakamarama man has geologists excited after a meteorite soared into his garage moving buckets and narrowly missing his head.

The man, who does not wish to be named, was in his garage talking with his neighbour last Monday when a meteorite soared past his head.

"It must have missed me by a couple of feet. I thought it was a gun shot."

He didn't hear or see the meteorite, but noticed the buckets were moving in the garage. Together with his friend the pair began searching.
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Fireball 3

Shooting stars seen in Midland County area, Michigan over the weekend

Kelly Dame
Midland Daily News
Tue, 14 May 2013 12:45 UTC
Residents and Midland County sheriff's deputies reported seeing shooting stars over the weekend.

A media log entry states a Greendale Township resident reported seeing a light in the sky with a tail following it at 10:07 p.m. Saturday. Deputies saw several falling stars throughout the night, the entry states.

One of those sightings was reported by a deputy over his radio at 10:14 p.m. Saturday, and was heard over the scanner.

"I just saw a falling star to the north," he said. A dispatcher teased, "I did not realize you were an astronomer," and the jovial deputy replied that he was "just observant."

According to the American Meteor Society, there were 14 reports of a fireball seen over Michigan and Ohio about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

One of those reports came from a Gorgia F. in Mount Pleasant, who wrote it "looked like a shooting star, just much bigger and beautiful. It was coming down at an angle and looked as if it was heading down toward Rosebush or Clare."

Thirteen of the reports listed on the website are from Michigan, with the majority made from in Detroit area.
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Fireball 3

Meteorite strikes mahangu field in Namibia

Helvy Shaanika
AllAfrica.com
Fri, 10 May 2013 06:39 UTC
Onesi - Thousands of people have flocked to the Omusati Region out of curiosity to view a small piece of meteorite that landed in a mahangu field in the village of Oshika, in Onesi Constituency, yesterday morning.

The incident created fear and panic among villagers who suggested the 'strange object' had something to do with the recent commotion over the 12 South African aircraft that were released after days of grounding at Ondangwa Airport. The aircraft of South African origin were grounded for several days and then sent back to South Africa, because they had no permits to use Namibian airspace.

People who came from all over the five northern regions, including the Kunene Region, flocking to Oshika, expressed fears that the tourists may have had something to do with the 'strange' object that fell in the mahangu field of Andreas Kamafo Ningilenimo.

"Maybe those people who came here with so many aircraft are responsible for this. Maybe that object is poisonous, we are scared, we won't even want to get close to it. If it is not taken away, we will not cultivate near it," said Selma Shikongo.

A piece of meteorite, the of a size of a small ball or two human fists put together made such an impact that people within a radius of over 200km were able to hear the explosive impact, feel the resulting tremor and observe the blinding light that followed as it landed.
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Fireball 4

Video of huge meteor over England and Wales

Harry Haydon
The Sun
Thu, 09 May 2013 08:30 UTC
A fireball streaking across Britain left stargazers stunned last night. The green-tinged meteor shot over England and Wales in a northerly direction at around 9.45pm. Experts believe the meteor might have formed from debris from Halley's Comet. Many observers took to Twitter to report the phenomenon with sightings apparently recorded in Cornwall, Hampshire, Lancashire, South Wales and Worcestershire.


Suzy Buttress, of Basingstoke in Hampshire, said she spotted the celestial body while driving along the M3.

She wrote on Twitter: "I have just seen the biggest meteor in my life! It was also noticeably green, and appeared very large compared to regular meteors I've seen."

Louise Darnell also reported the unusual event on the social networking site.

She wrote: "Seen the brightest and lowest shooting star ever! It was definitely a UFO..??"

Reports suggested the meteor crossed Britain from the South East towards the North West.

Space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock said the meteor's size was unusual.

She said: "It seems that this one was particularly large and particularly bright, which is why it's caught so much attention."

"It's quite likely to be part of the Eta Aquarids, which is the debris left by Halley's Comet. And twice a year we pass through the debris left behind by the comet and when this happens we see more of these shooting stars, but there must have been a large lump left behind which is what caused such a bright meteor to be seen."
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Fireball 4

Fallen meteorite discovered in Connecticut for second time in a month


New Haven Register
Thu, 09 May 2013 21:12 UTC
Meteorite
© Yale Peabody Museum
The Yale Peabody Museum said a second meteorite has been found in a Connecticut building, 19 days after one hit a home in Wolcott.

This second meteorite was found in a Waterbury home Thursday, according to a press release.

This object was not seen or heard as it fell, but Dr. Stefan Nicolescu, mineralogy collections manager at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, said in the release that he believes "it is highly likely the Waterbury meteorite is related to the April 19 fall in Wolcott."

The Waterbury meteorite is about 4 inches long and weighs 1.6 pounds. It had the same type of dark crust, magnetism, and interior color as the Wolcott meteorite.

Nicolescu said the museum hopes to confirm whether or not the meteorites are related with further testing.
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Fireball 2

Fireball Meteor explodes near Tokyo, Japan


Foxcrawl
Tue, 07 May 2013 15:51 UTC
A meteor exploded over Japan terrifying dozens people in the early morning of May 6, 2013. An amateur photographer captured spectacular images of the blast which were then posted on the Internet.


The space rock disintegrated in the atmosphere releasing a noisy boom over Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo. The celestial event took place at 3.58 a.m. local time and a video footage shows the meteor appearing as a fast moving fireball whose intensity gradually increases.

The first snaps were uploaded by an eyewitness on the blog Sonotaco.jp before spreading across the social networks.
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