Fire in the SkyS


Meteor

Meteorites Common in Central Alberta

We are never alone. As mankind continues to plod its way into the stars, it's sometimes easy to forget that heavenly bodies, which blaze across the night's sky only to hammer into the earth, constantly visit us.

These visitors are meteors, the stuff of legend, fear and even faith among ancient peoples.

And those violent visits still speak to us today, not through mysticism or legend, but through science. After all, we are dealing with an extraterrestria - an untold billion-year-old chunk of rock that has been hurtling through untold reaches of space.

Amateur astronomer and author Anthony Whyte says that the exploration of space begins in our own backyard. It's an epic mystery that can fill in the missing pieces of our past and tell how the landscape was, and is, forever changed by each impact.

His new book, The Meteorites of Alberta, is a journey that delves into the history of this province and the explorers who are still peeling away the legends to find the facts.

"The more I read about this, the more and more interesting tales I discovered. I said '... it's a shame this stuff isn't more widely known."

Meteor

Ireland: Mysterious Fireball Sighting Linked to Meteor Reports

Mystery still surrounds the reported sighting of what is thought to have been a meteor in south Fermanagh. One witness described seeing a 'fireball' lighting up the sky near Teemore last Wednesday evening - around the time that a number of similar sightings were reported in neighbouring counties in the northern half of the country.

It is the first time in 40 years that such a sighting has been made in Ireland, with only about half a dozen recorded meteorite falls in the country altogether.

The last one was in 1999, and the last one in the North was in Derry in 1969. One lady from Teemore told the Herald: "It was about 6.15pm on Wednesday evening and it wasn't fully dark. I saw the fireball from a window in the living room. It dropped a few miles from the house I'd say. At first I thought it was a small helicopter but it was more like a rocket or a flame gliding through the sky and then it disappeared into the fields a couple of miles from here in Teemore. There was no smoke or anything so I knew that nothing had crashed. It was just so unusual and it was not a rocket or a firework. It must have been about 12 to 18 inches in size."

Meteor

US: Large White Ball With Long Tail (Fireball) Seen in Night Sky

Posted: February 7, 2010

Date of Sighting: February 6, 2010
Time of Sighting: 10:55 PM EST
Location of Sighting: Suitland, Maryland (Near Washington, D.C.)

Description: On the night of February 6, 2010 at 10:55 PM I looked out my window in Suitland, Maryland and saw a large white ball with a long tail on it flying across the sky.

Note: Probable meteor.

Meteor

It Came From Outer Space Too: The Canyon Diablo meteorite

Meteorite
© The Pueblo Chieftain
Arizona - OK, I admit it. The main attraction at Meteor Crater Natural Landmark really does look like a great big hole in the ground.

But looks, as they say, can be deceiving.

Some 50,000 years ago, a meteorite slammed into this wind-swept plateau, spewing molten fragments over the surrounding landscape and creating the world's best-preserved, and first scientifically authenticated, meteorite impact crater.

Standing on one of the crater's four outdoor observation platforms, it's difficult to imagine how a rock could have gouged out this gaping, bowl-shaped depression that measures more than 4,000 feet across and is deeper than a 60-story building is tall.

Meteor

Geologists stumble upon meteorite-hit site in Rajasthan

New Delhi - Geologists appear to have stumbled upon a meteorite-hit site in western Rajasthan after they discovered quartz-like mineral that is similar to the one found near the famous Lonar crater lake in Maharashtra. The experts from the Indian Institute of Technology- Bombay detected occurrence of stishovite mineral in magnetic particles found in MokalsarSiwana way of the Siwana volcanic province in western Rajasthan.

"Such magnetic spherules, with 57 per cent of magnetite and 37 per cent haematite and with insignificant rare earth element (REE) content have been reported recently from a wide variety of geological formations and Recent Alluvium," Prof D Chandrashekhram of IIT-Bombay told PTI over phone. The stishovite discovered in the Siwana volcanic province of western Rajasthan is somewhat similar to the Lonar crater and formed by a series of meteor or asteroid impact, he said.

Meteor

England: Fireball sighted over Northamptonshire

Posted: February 5, 2010

Location of Sighting: Rothwell, Northamptonshire
Date of Sighting: 5th Feb 2010
Time: 21:00 hrs

Witness Statement: I would like to report a sighting of a fireball over my home in Rothwell Northamptonshire, I spotted this fireball around 21:00 hrs on the 5th Feb 2010. It was heading North but not sure how fast it was traveling I would say around 300mph as it looked as if it was traveling at the same speed as a plane would go. I tried to get video footage but by the time I got to my phone the fireball was going out of sight, managed to get a couple of seconds but it not brilliant.

Meteor

'Fireball' lights up Irish sky

Fireballs
© UnknownAn artist's impression of a meteorite fall
A fireball, thought to be a meteor, was spotted in the sky by people from all over the island of Ireland at about 1800 GMT on Wednesday.

People in Armagh, Craigavon and Omagh reported sightings to the police, and it was also seen on the Glenshane Pass.

The Northern Ireland Coastguard also took calls from people who believed the fireball had landed in Lough Neagh.

In the Republic, Valentia Coastguard said it took calls about sightings in Counties Westmeath, Limerick and Cork.

Meteor

Ireland: So where did fireball land after blazing our skies?

Show 'like something out of Armageddon'

A search was underway today for remnants of a huge fireball that lit up the skies over north Dublin and across the country last night.

Large numbers of people reported seeing the fireball as it blazed brightly across the sky around 6pm.

Today, people living in Cavan were searching for remnants of what is believed to have been a small asteroid, following reports it may have hit the ground in the townland of Crimlin.

People in several parts of Dublin and around the country reported sightings of the fireball.

Today FM presenter Tim Kelly told the Herald today he saw the fireball as it seemed to streak across the sky over Dublin.

"I was visiting a friend at Dublin South FM at Dundrum and we were five storeys up with a view over Dublin. It suddenly appeared in the sky in the direction of O'Connell Street. It was orange with flames coming out of it. It was like something out of the movie Armageddon.

Meteor

Fireball seen over Ireland


Members of the public throughout the country have been reporting sightings of a fireball in the skies this evening.

Tommy Moore from Astronomy Ireland said a space rock collided with the earth's atmosphere at about 6pm, showering debris over many parts of the country.

Mr Moore said: "A major explosion happened in the sky over Ireland. We think it's a fireball, that's a rock from space the earth has slammed into and they burn up as huge shooting stars. This one appears to have lit up the whole country. The phones here in Astronomy Ireland are going crazy."

Meteor

Fireball over Montana 'lights up the sky with a blue light'


Several people reported seeing a meteor fall Monday night west of Billings in an area between Red Lodge and Molt.

Reports were vague, but the National Weather Service office in Billings fielded a handful of calls from people who claimed to have seen the space rock hurtling toward the Earth about 7:30 p.m.