© Pete Saloutos
Fire in the Sky
Rain wasn't the only thing falling in our city this evening, social media was flooded with reports of a sighting of what appears to be a meteor over Edmonton.
© Visit Scotland
A large number flocked to social media to tell of the loud "bang" at around 3am. Panic set in as worried locals frantically tried to find out exactly what had happened.
It is still unclear what caused the bang, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service only have record of a refuse fire in the area.
After being woken through the night, social media users in the north of Glasgow speculated over the "explosion."
© Ikonacolor/Getty Images (file photo)
Walking home from work Thursday night around midnight in Spokane, Washington (because my car had a flat tire of all things), I saw the astronomical spectacle sometimes known as a "fireball," flash across part of the western sky low to the ground. It only lasted about three seconds. No time to take a picture, but I did tweet about the experience a minute later.
I wasn't the only one either. Several from Washington and British Columbia also saw the meteor fly across the sky.
© Screenshot via Nest Cam
This journalist was drinking on his balcony near the intersection of 49th Avenue and Tecumseh Road in College Park when he heard the mystery boom at around 1:45 a.m. Aug. 19. The sound appeared to emanate from the south, in the direction of the University of Maryland campus and College Park's Route 1 corridor. The sound was not accompanied by a flash of light, such as from lightning.
Shortly afterwards, other residents took to social media to describe the sound. One Berwyn Heights resident uploaded a security camera video recording of the boom. In the video, a, sudden, loud, thunderous report is heard, followed shortly afterwards by smaller percussive reports and rolling echos. [The boom can be heard starting at 0:19]
Comment: According to Meteorites Australia, sounds associated with a falling meteor include a "thunderous" noise.
Sounds Associated with Witnessed Meteorite Falls
Occasionally when a meteorite is witnessed to find its way to Earth, it will present a very impressive visual show as it burns through the atmosphere. Even less common though, are the occasions when witnesses are able to actually hear audible sounds associated with the falling meteor. These have been described in many various ways such as: whistling, popping, booming, thunderous, whizzing, whirling, whirring, crackling, drumming, rumbling, humming, roaring and more.
© Jason Carnegie
Jason Carnegie submitted this photo from Moores Mill in Huntsville, Alabama at 9:40 pm Sunday.
Jason Carnegie submitted this photo from Moores Mill in Huntsville, Alabama at 9:40 pm Sunday.
The American Meteor Society notes that more than 60 eyewitnesses reported the fireball in numerous states, including Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. Eyewitnesses report the fireball was visible for roughly 1.5 - 3.5 seconds.
Additional information and reports are forthcoming regarding Sunday night's fireball. However, many across the Tennessee Valley spotted the bright feature in the sky.
The American Meteor Society defines a fireball as a meteor that shines brighter than the planet Venus.
A fitting name, astronomers reasoned, for a menace now hurtling towards Earth from outerspace. Scientists are monitoring the progress of a 390-metre wide asteroid discovered last year that is potentially on a collision course with the planet, and are imploring governments to decide on a strategy for dealing with it.
Nasa has estimated that an impact from Apophis, which has an outside chance of hitting the Earth in 2036, would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear blast over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometres would be directly affected by the blast but the whole of the Earth would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere.
Comment: 15 years later, they're still reporting about Apophis as if it's breaking news.
As we said at the time...
Extremely bright meteor fireball
The fireball was likely significantly brighter than the full Moon, indicating a sizeable incoming meteoroid. It was a long-duration event, lasting over 4 seconds. The meteor reached peak brightness in a series of bright flares, which appear to have resulted in fragmentation of the meteoroid - several fragments are visible towards the end of the luminous path. It appears likely that the incoming meteoroid was comparatively slow and that the event may have resulted in a meteorite fall - into the Mediterranean sea.
© ABC News
Stock photo
Stock photo
That was just one of the outlandish theories people expressed about the meteor. Some apparently were hesitant to mention what they had seen because they didn't want to spread fear or be ridiculed.
The only Henderson County resident who came forward to The Gleaner the day the meteor fell was Hilary Baskett, who had gone to check his farm on the road to Spottsville. He was not fooled; he was pretty sure it was probably a meteor. But he was "particularly anxious" that others confirm what he had seen.
"To make it doubly interesting the celestial fireworks took place in broad daylight" about 8:15 a.m., The Gleaner reported Aug. 19. "He reported it to be a long, greenish, comet-like blaze which suddenly burst into nothingness as it seemed to near the ground."
© meteoriteclub.com
"We were heading east near Fredonia (Kansas) when a meteor fell straight down," Johnson recalled. "It looked like a big shooting star. It was long, but it was quick. Wow. I've never seen one in the daylight."
He said the meteor left a brief smoke trail but didn't appear to hit the ground.
"It was fast enough that me and my wife saw it, but our son, who was also sitting in the front seat didn't. It was pretty neat!"
The meteor created a massive shock wave and thunderous boom as it streaked above southwest Missouri. The American Meteor Society received 16 reports of a fireball seen from points in southwest Missouri, northwest Arkansas, southeast Kansas and northwest Arkansas, all just moments after 5 p.m. Sunday.
© NASA/Ron Garan (@Astro_Ron)
Perseid meteor shower as seen from the International Space Station
Perseid meteor shower as seen from the International Space Station
Widely seen as one of the most entertaining celestial events of the year, the Perseids meteor shower is caused by meteoroids from the debris trail of the Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle which orbits the sun once every 133 years.
Those in the Northern Hemisphere will be treated to the best views, provided they can escape the light pollution from towns and cities. The moon will frustrate proceedings somewhat as a full moon is due on Thursday, meaning the sky will likely be washed out for the majority of viewers, but fear not, as the Perseids have an ace up their sleeve.
Instead of shooting stars, stargazers can hunt for bright 'fireballs' which can last up to a second rather than merely fractions of a second like their shooting star brethren.
"...[T]he Perseids are rich in bright meteors and fireballs, so it will still be worth going out in the early morning to catch some of nature's fireworks," NASA says.
Comment: More views from social media:
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 106 reports about the meteor fireball, which was seen over Alberta, MT and Saskatchewan on Sunday, September 1st 2019 around 04:28 UT.
"This fireball would have been seen for 600km from either side of it, probably," said Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, who speculated that the object was likely a bolide, a very bright meteor, based on the reports he has received.
The meteor spectrum ranges from meteor, to fireball, to bolide and super bolide, which is brighter than the Moon and almost as bright as the Sun.