Fire in the SkyS


Meteor

Fireball spotted over Lake Michigan

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© John Chumack/FILE PHOTOComing to a neighbourhood near you soon? Another fireball streaks through the sky.
A call that brought out search and rescue crews off the Lake Michigan shore Tuesday night may have been sparked by a falling meteor.

The U.S. Coast Guard Canal Station in Sturgeon Bay responded to a sighting of an off-shore white flare near Jacksonport Tuesday night.

"We had a call at approximately 9:15 p.m. local time of one white flare an undetermined distance off the shore" near Jacksonport, said BMC Justin Longval, executive petty officer at the station.

A white flare does not necessarily mean distress - a distress flare is red - but the Coast Guard launched its 45-foot response boat and called in an aircraft from the Air Station in Traverse City, Mich., for the search.

The Coast Guard searched by air and water for two hours without finding anything or anyone, Longval said.

A helicopter from Traverse City conducted a first-light search Wednesday morning. It found nothing.

Meteor

First 'February Fireballs', now 'April Fireballs': Daytime Meteor Streaks over Texas

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Comment: The phenomenon known as 'April Fireballs'? When a spate of fireballs rained down in February, NASA labelled them the 'February Fireballs', even though no such thing existed before this year...

"Fireballs of February"?


Meteor

San Antonio Fireball leaves area residents wondering

People who reported seeing a fiery ball of light in the cloudless noon sky Monday really did see an unidentified flying object.

The flying object has not been identified. But no one has conjectured that it held little green men with giant eyes.

It was likely falling space debris or a meteor, according to the National Weather Service.

"It could definitely have caused that," said meteorologist Pat McDonald. "It's the only thing we can think that could have caused that."

A space rock or piece of an old satellite burning up as it hits the Earth's atmosphere is not a rare occurrence, said Joe Wheelock, the public affairs specialist at the McDonald Observatory.

"It's not uncommon at all," he said.

Jane Marke, an amateur astronomer, said she was at a traffic light near the airport when she saw a bright light streaking across the eastern sky at 11:49 a.m.

Meteor

'Unbelievable' meteor seen in the skies over New Zealand - residents report 'loud boom' from large fiery meteor

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© weatherwatch.co.nz/Hayden RogersA trail left by the meteor, taken from Karori, Wellington.
A spectacular, bright meteor that left a long trail in the sky has stunned witnesses in Wellington and Christchurch tonight. The WeatherWatch website has been inundated with reports of the fireball, which witnesses say rushed across the sky at about 6.30pm. A Nelson resident described it as an "unbelievable'' green, orange and white ball flying past at "super speed'', leaving behind a massive trail that lasted for nearly 10 minutes before dissipating.

A Hanmer Springs resident said they heard "a loud boom'' about two minutes after it streaked past. "Not sure if hit the ground or sonic boom, perhaps the latter, very exciting! Much more exciting than putting the washing out.'' A Wellingtonian said the meteor was "full on magnesium bright and flaming'', while another said it was "almost fluorescent and very intense''.

A Cantabrian said the whole family were excited by the meteor, which came low to the horizon with two bright flashes and trails of smoke. "Like an arc welder torch, it seemed VERY close and low to us, was waiting for the bang it seemed so close and bright, but obviously moving at tremendous speed. I have never seen anything like this!''

Meteor

Suspected meteor's fate fascinates astronomers

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© Alex McNeilThe meteor from Bulls
(New Zealand) Astronomers are hoping to find out if what was thought to be a giant meteor has landed on Earth.

Eye witnesses from Northland to Christchurch spotted what is believed to be a meteor flash across the sky just before 6.30pm last night.

Police up and down the country were inundated with calls from people describing a fireball that flashed green and orange, followed by a spiral trail.

People in the South Island reported a sonic boom.

Astronomers say it poses no risk.

Do you have any pictures or video of the 'meteor'. Send them to ONE News at news@tvnz.co.nz

The Carter Observatory said on its Facebook page it appeared to be a meteor burning up in Earth's atmosphere.

The astronomers hope to find out today if any of the meteor could have survived the re-entry to reach the ground and where it could have landed.

Comet

Noise Was Not Thunder! Pocono Residents Hear Loud Sonic-like Boom That Shook Homes

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US, Pennsylvania - Strong thunderstorms hit the Poconos Friday night, moving through shortly after 10 p.m. and continuing for at least a half hour, but the weather event that had folks talking was a loud sonic-like boom that shook houses at about 10:15 p.m.

Gilda Spiotta of Long Pond said, "The shaking last night lasted unusually long. Didn't sound like thunder, didn't feel like thunder, was wondering if something happened on 380/80; tanker accident."

Another Long Pond resident, Lorene R. Allman-Mars: "My son was at the back door letting the dogs out and he reported that he saw a large flash of light fill the sky toward/above the FedEx distribution site on 940, then he heard a loud boom. It didn't look like lightning, it looked like a bomb blew up in the air. I was on the second floor of the house; I didn't see anything but I heard the boom and felt it shake the house. I actually felt it under my feet. The floors shook; I have never felt lightning shake the house like that before and we've been up here 20 years!"

Some readers suggested an earthquake or an explosion, but said that definitely was no routine thunder.

Meteorologist and Pocono weather expert Ben Gelber offered this explanation: "One possibility is that thunderstorms in our chilly environment near the surface tonight, associated with an inversion of warm air aloft, sound much louder."

He added, "The sound waves are refracted back to the surface and reverberate in ways that we normally do not experience as they bounce between the surface and the inversion near the base of the clouds."

Other residents commented from across the Poconos:
"My kids and I heard the sound in Saw Creek," said Winnie Michaluk. "Our windows rattled and our dogs were barking like crazy."

Russo Albuja of Tobyhanna said, "I was driving along 196 on my way home from work when I felt the BOOM. It was so extreme, my car shook and on my left hand side on an empty field - all I saw was this HUGE flash of light coming from where the airport location would be at. Afterwards, I heard nothing. Kinda scared me that I rushed home and locked my doors."

Katee McCarthy said, "Felt it here in the Tannersville area. Quite scary." As of 11 p.m., she reported lightning and sleet in the area.

Tim Aziz said, "Just heard something at 10:35 in East Stroudsburg, the whole house vibrated!"

Meteor

April Fools' Day Asteroid to Buzz Earth Sunday: No Joke!

EG5 Asteroid
© NASA/JPLThis graphic depicts the orbit of asteroid 2012 EG5 (in blue) during its April Fool's Day flyby of Earth on April 1, 2012.

An asteroid the size of a passenger jet will zoom close by Earth on Sunday (April 1) just in time for April Fools' Day, but it has no chance of hitting the Earth, NASA says.

The asteroid 2012 EG5 will be closer than the moon when it passes Earth at 5:32 a.m. EDT (0932 GMT). The space rock is about 150 feet wide (46 meters), according to a NASA update.

"Asteroid 2012 EG5 will safely pass Earth on April 1," scientists with NASA's Asteroid Watch program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., wrote in a Twitter statement.

The space rock may be visiting Earth on April Fools' Day, but its flyby is no prank. The asteroid will creep within 143,000 miles (230,000 kilometers) of Earth during its closest approach, which is just over half the distance between Earth and the moon's orbit. The moon typically circles the Earth at a distance of 238,000 miles (382,900 km).

Asteroid 2012 EG5 is the third relatively small asteroid to buzz the Earth in seven days. Two smaller asteroids passed near Earth on Monday (March 26).

Question

Mysterious Light and Meteor in the Sky Over Colorado


Highlands Ranch - Suha and Mike Owens took video Wednesday night from their home in Highlands Ranch. It shows a light in the sky that appears to change colors, and it moves left and right, up and down.

"Is it somebody's toy or is it a UFO?" Suha Owens says in the video.

9NEWS received several calls and emails Wednesday around 8:45 p.m. from viewers, all reporting a bright light in the western sky.

9NEWS spoke with Chris Peterson, a researcher at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and Cloudbait Observatory, about the light.

Peterson looked at Owens' video. He says what they captured was most likely a reflective balloon blowing around or possibly a helicopter or some other aircraft.

Meteor

Bright New Comet Promises Skywatching Treat in 2013

Comet C/2011 L4
© Institute for Astronomy/University of Hawaii/Pan-STARRSDiscovery image of the newfound comet C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS), taken by Hawaii's Pan-STARRS 1 telescope.

A year from now, it is possible that "comet fever" will be running high when a newfound comet emerges into view in the evening sky. But while some scientists have high hopes for a spectacular 2013 sky show by the comet, it is still far from certain.

When astronomers at the University of Hawaii at Manoa announced last June that they had discovered the new comet, it was a distant and inconspicuous object. But preliminary calculations at once made it clear that this new object had the potential to become a naked-eye object of considerable interest for skywatching enthusiasts in the Northern Hemisphere.

The comet was christened C/2011 L4 (PANSTARRS). Comets are usually named after their discoverers, but in this case a large team of observers, computer scientists, and astronomers was involved, so the comet was named after the telescope.

PANSTARRS stands for Panoramic Survey Telescope And Rapid Response System. It's a 1.8-meter prototype for a quartet of military-funded telescopes that astronomers hope to build on the lip of the extinct volcano Haleakala.

Sun

Monster Solar Tornadoes Discovered

For the first time, huge solar tornadoes have been filmed swirling deep inside the solar corona -- the sun's superheated atmosphere. But if you're imagining the pedestrian tornadoes that we experience on Earth, think again. These solar monsters, measuring the width of several Earths and swirling at speeds of up to 300,000 kilometers (190,000 miles) per hour, aren't only fascinating structures; they may also trigger violent magnetic eruptions that can have drastic effects on our planet.
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© NASA/SDO/AIA/Aberystwyth University/Li/Morgan/LeonardIn the lower corona swirling magnetic fields and plasma create huge solar tornadoes measuring several times the width of Earth.
In one example observed on Sept. 25, 2011, solar researchers from the UK used the high-definition cameras onboard NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) to track solar gases as hot as 2 million Kelvin (3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit) getting sucked from the bottom of a solar prominence and spiral high into the corona. The solar tornado then developed for three hours, gases traveling in spiral paths for around 200,000 kilometers (120,000 miles).

"Prominences are tangled magnetic fields trapping cold and dense plasma in the solar corona," Xing Li, solar physicist at Aberystwyth University, told Discovery News. "These often erupt spectacularly and fly out into space as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), and large CMEs will impact our space weather and space technology in a significant way when they are heading toward the Earth.

"What drives these eruptions is still not clear and is very important to gain an understanding of CME initiation (so that we can possibly predict such events)."