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Fire in the SkyS
Yesterday, newly discovered asteroid 2008 CT1 flew past Earth only 72,000 miles (0.3 lunar distances) away. Had it struck our planet, the 13-meter wide space rock (similar in size to a school bus) would have done little damage, probably exploding in the atmosphere and peppering some lonely stretch of ocean with meteorites. Maybe next time...
A goose survived being hit by a 9lb meteorite and crashing into a car only to fall prey to a hungry fox.
Last night several witnesses reported to the program Última Hora that a "UFO" that fell at 4:00 am behind Las Ánimas Hill could have been the cause of the enormous and devastating fire that affected hundreds of hectares.
"It was like a huge fire ball that fell behind the hill", said a neighbor, whose report was confirmed by others.
"It was like a huge fire ball that fell behind the hill", said a neighbor, whose report was confirmed by others.
Who you gonna call?
No, not when you see a ghost - but when you spot a meteorite falling from the sky.
It happens more often than you would think.
When a suspected meteorite landed on a Spruce Grove golf course recently, a number of residents continued to come forward with their own stories.
No, not when you see a ghost - but when you spot a meteorite falling from the sky.
It happens more often than you would think.
When a suspected meteorite landed on a Spruce Grove golf course recently, a number of residents continued to come forward with their own stories.
I now move on to the suspected explosion over British Guyana in 1935. The main source for information on this event is a story entitled "Tornado or Meteor Crash?" in the magazine The Sky (the forerunner of Sky and Telescope) of September 1939(5). A report from Serge A. Korff of the Bartol Research Foundation, Franklin Institute (Delaware, USA) was printed, he having been in the area--the Rupununi region of British Guyana--a couple of months later. The date of the explosion appears to have been December 11, 1935, at about 21h local time. I might note that this is near the date of the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, but yet again this may be merely a coincidence. The location is given as being near Lat: 2 deg 10min North, Long: 59 deg 10 min West, close to Marudi Mountain.
There is evidence that there were two massive bolide explosions which occurred over South America in the 1930's. One seems to have occurred over Amazonia, near the Brazil-Peru border, on August 13, 1930, whilst the other was over British Guyana on December 11, 1935. It is noted that these dates coincide with the peaks of the Perseids and the Geminids, although any association with those meteor showers is very tentative. The identification of such events is significant in particular in that they point to the need for re-assessment of the frequency of tunguska-type atmospheric detonations.
Part 1: A show of gold
Thursday Oct 3, 8:00pm Saw what appeared to be a low-altitude fireball, heading north from the plains, into the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos, just southeast of Santa Fe.
When I first saw it, it was in full glory; I don't know how much I missed. It burned brilliant green, with active, changing head and tail, for several (3-6) seconds, then disintegrated in a show of gold, into 4 or 5 smaller pieces, glowing white, spread out in a line, until they seemed to burn out, another 3-5 seconds later.
Thursday Oct 3, 8:00pm Saw what appeared to be a low-altitude fireball, heading north from the plains, into the southern end of the Sangre de Cristos, just southeast of Santa Fe.
When I first saw it, it was in full glory; I don't know how much I missed. It burned brilliant green, with active, changing head and tail, for several (3-6) seconds, then disintegrated in a show of gold, into 4 or 5 smaller pieces, glowing white, spread out in a line, until they seemed to burn out, another 3-5 seconds later.
February 12, 1947
This week marks the golden anniversary of what is arguably the most spectacular meteorite fall ever seen. At 10:40 a.m. on February 12, 1947, a incredibly bright fireball seared its way across the sky of eastern Siberia and rained around 70 tons of iron meteorites onto the rugged landscape. Because it was so well documented, the Sikhote-Alin fall proved a great boon to meteorite science.
This week marks the golden anniversary of what is arguably the most spectacular meteorite fall ever seen. At 10:40 a.m. on February 12, 1947, a incredibly bright fireball seared its way across the sky of eastern Siberia and rained around 70 tons of iron meteorites onto the rugged landscape. Because it was so well documented, the Sikhote-Alin fall proved a great boon to meteorite science.
It wasn't the end of the world. It just looked like it to those people who saw a cosmic fireworks show over Southwest skies.
A midday meteor streaking above West Texas and New Mexico on Thursday sent residents scurrying to their phones to report what many feared was an airplane exploding or some kind of aerial collision.
A midday meteor streaking above West Texas and New Mexico on Thursday sent residents scurrying to their phones to report what many feared was an airplane exploding or some kind of aerial collision.
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| ©CNN |
| Satellite image of meteor |
The fireball left a spectacular glowing trail in the night sky
According to the research done by Dominique Caudron, an amateur astronomer in the North of France, the falling point would be located "a little bit toward the East of Albi, in the surroundings of Paulinet".
In an article published by le Figaro, Pierre Lagrange, a sociologist of sciences and member of the College of Experts working in a team of study and information on Unidentified Space Phenomena (Geipan) at the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (National Center of Space Studies) in Toulouse, gives a precise description of the calculations of the young astronomer.
This new localization helps to understand the many reports from witnesses gathered in the Tarn department, even if the celestial object was also seen in other departments of the 'Midi toulousain' (the region surrounding Toulouse).
Comment: Sounds like maybe there were two of these fireballs in France that day, not just one, given the differences in the reports.
Update March 2008
Another fireball over France was captured on camera: