Fireballs
S


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball seen across US Midwest evening skies

Chris Havely
kcrg.com
Sun, 08 Jul 2018 13:23 UTC
FIREBALL
Many Iowans were lucky enough to have their eyes to the sky Sunday evening around 8:45. A fireball or bright meteor was seen streaking across the southern sky.

Fireballs are meteors that burn much brighter than average meteors seen entering the earth's atmosphere. This is typical because of their larger size, but there are other factors that may make them brighter or appear in different colors.
Read More...
Info

NASA may have recovered meteorite from the ocean

Chris Mahon
Outer Places
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 12:09 UTC
Underwater Meteorite
© Pixabay Composite
Just two days into their search for a giant meteorite that crashed off the coast of Washington State, Dr. Marc Fries and the crew of the Nautilus have accomplished their mission: they believe they have successfully recovered pieces of the two-ton meteorite that created a huge fireball the size of a minivan as it streaked into the Pacific. Further analysis is in the works but - if these fragments are genuine - they'll be the first-ever pieces of a meteorite recovered from the ocean.

Based on Fries' calculations of the meteorite's trajectory, the Nautilus narrowed its search to a 0.4 square-mile patch of the ocean. The area was first searched with sonar, then with two ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) named Argus and Hercules. The team then used "a suction hose sampler, magnetic plate, and sediment scoop" to pick up the most promising pieces of rock.

The two fragments found so far are thought to be the outer shell of the meteorite (called the fusion crust) which the Nautilus Live blog describes as "meteorite exterior that melted and flowed like glaze on pottery as it entered the atmosphere."
Read More...
Meteor

Traces of 'sonic boom' meteorites found in ocean off Washington State

Charles Q. Choi
Live Science
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 14:51 UTC
Meteorite fragments of the coast of WA
© Mark Fries/NASA
The first mission designed to hunt a meteorite that crashed into the ocean has now discovered what may be tiny fragments of the meteorite's crust, researchers say.

On March 7, three National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather stations detected the fall of a meteorite about 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) off the coast of Washington state. "The fall was widely seen around local areas and widely heard around local areas - it came with some loud sonic booms," Marc Fries, the cosmic dust curator for NASA, told Live Science.

Fries estimated this fall might yield about 4,400 lbs. (2,000 kilograms) of meteorites. He also calculated the largest meteorite might weigh about 9.7 lbs. (4.4 kg) and have a diameter of about 5 inches (12 centimeters).

"This is the largest meteorite fall I've seen in 20-plus years of radar data," Fries said.

Comment: See also: Meteor fireball reported in the sky over Western Washington - UPDATE

Read More...
Fireball 5

Mysterious lights in the sky over New Zealand probably meteors, experts say

Piers Fuller
stuff.co.nz
Thu, 05 Jul 2018 15:38 UTC
Meteor seen entering atmosphere seen from ISS
© Supplied
A group of early morning exercisers were perplexed by strange lights cutting across the Wellington sky on Wednesday morning.

Experts suspect the lights, which were also seen in other parts of the country, were probably meteors flaming out in the upper atmosphere.

Melissa Mebus of Houghton Bay was one of seven women exercising at a regular bootcamp on Houghton Valley School's playing fields around 6.30am when they spotted a strange object overhead.

Richard Hall of the Phoenix Astronomical Society suspects mysterious lights may have been part of a meteor shower.

"Someone said 'oh my good look at that' and we all were all sort of like 'what the heck is that?'"

"We had long enough to see it. It didn't just shoot past ... we had about five seconds which is quite a lot if you are looking at something," Mebus said.
Read More...
Fireball 3

Meteor fireball blazes over Guangdong, southeastern China


Sott.net
Fri, 06 Jul 2018 08:59 UTC
meteor china july 2018
A super-bright meteor fireball event occurred over Guangdong, southeastern China on July 3, 2018, at around 00:50 local time.

According to EXOSS Citizen Science Project, the meteor had comparable brightness to the moon and lasted for a duration of 5 seconds. A camera from a sky-monitoring network registered the event, although the view of the middle part was covered by low cloud and the last part was blocked by a building.

The event comes just one month after another very bright fireball exploded over the Chinese city of Jinghong in Yunnan Province.
Read More...
Meteor

Two 'hot stones' fall from the sky in Uttar Pradesh, India


Times Now News
Fri, 29 Jun 2018 15:37 UTC
Meteroite
© BCCLRepresentative Image
Two hot "stones" have fallen from the sky in Uttar Pradesh's village of Kasoli. The meteorite-like objects will be examined by a team and will identify the nature of the unearthly object. But is this the first time this has ever happened in India?

Time and again, humans have encountered tales about aliens, their world and a different universe that exist outside the proximity of Earth. And the unearthly objects have always fascinated the intrigue of a person. That intrigue was poked again on Friday when two hot "meteorite-looking" embers were found in the village of Kasoli in Uttar Pradesh by the locals.

According to Sub-divisional Magistrate Kumar Dharmendra, the hot stones fell down making a loud sound after a rainfall in the village. Dharmendra said, the stones have been taken into "safe custody" and will be investigated for experts to examine and identify whether they are meteorites.
Read More...
Comet 2

Stunning daylight fireball explodes with sonic boom over Russia, meteorites possible


The Watchers
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 12:00 UTC
Very bright daylight fireball explodes over Russia, meteorites possible
© YouTube user Apostol875Bright fireball explodes over central Russia on June 21, 2018.
A very bright daylight fireball exploded over western Russia during the early morning hours of June 21, 2018. The event lasted several seconds before the object disintegrated in a bright flash.

The meteor was seen from the cities of Kursk, Lipetsk, Voronezh and Orel. A sonic boom was associated with this event and reported by residents.

Comment: Activity in our skies is certainly heating up - below are the events documented in just the last two weeks or so:

Read More...
Meteor

US National Science and Technology Council calls for improved asteroid detection, tracking and deflection

Marcia Dunn
Yahoo News
Wed, 20 Jun 2018 00:00 UTC
NASA asteroid tracking deflection
On Wednesday, June 20, 2018, the U.S.'s National Science and Technology Council released a report calling for improved asteroid detection, tracking and deflection. NASA is taking part in the effort, along with federal emergency and White House officials.
The U.S. government is stepping up efforts to protect the planet from incoming asteroids that could wipe out entire regions or even continents.

The National Science and Technology Council released a report Wednesday calling for improved asteroid detection, tracking and deflection. NASA is participating, along with federal emergency, military, White House and other officials.

For now, scientists know of no asteroids or comets heading our way. But one could sneak up on us, and that's why the government wants a better plan.


Comment: And they are sneaking up on us with increasing frequency.


NASA's planetary defense officer, Lindley Johnson, said scientists have found 95 percent of all these near-Earth objects measuring one kilometer (two-thirds of a mile) or bigger. But the hunt is still on for the remaining 5 percent and smaller rocks that could still inflict big damage.

Comment: Looks like someone has been paying attention to the alarming number of space rocks in our skies recently:

Read More...
Fireball

Daytime meteor fireball jets across Toowoomba, Queensland sky

Meghan Harris
The Chronicle
Thu, 21 Jun 2018 09:28 UTC
An unexplained bright light was seen travelling across the sky above Toowoomba earlier this morning.

There may be an innocent explanation for it but it brings forward the age old question - are we alone in the universe?

It is something that divides people all across the world and when unexplained flashes of light or objects are snapped in the sky, the question is again brought to the forefront of people's minds. Most of the time they can be explained, but sometimes they can't.

This morning Nathan Murphy shared a photo he snapped of the puzzling light moving across the sky at 6.30am.
Fireball over Toowoomba, Australia
© Nathan MurphyNathan Murphy captured a bright light in the sky outside his home in Wyreema.
Read More...
Fireball 2

Meteor fireball arrives with a boom, lights up sky in New Zealand

Mark Price
Otago DailyTimes
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 14:54 UTC
Fireball - stock image
Stock image
It glowed like a meteor, boomed like a meteor, and therefore - applying the duck test - was probably a meteor.

Social media pages across the Upper Clutha lit up on Monday night with postings of an extraterrestrial object in the sky to the west of Lakes Wanaka and Hawea.

Some said it was green, others that it was blue and many who did not see it heard the boom.

First to post were Dave Tetzlaff and partner Kirsten Mann, from their Lake Hawea vantage point.
Read More...