Fireballs
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Airplane

Military jets blamed for loud boom heard in eastern Ohio

Mystery boom (stock)
© WYFF
A loud boom heard across parts of Tuscarawas County apparently was caused by military jets, according to officials.

The first of several calls to the county 9-1-1 Emergency Dispatch Center in New Philadelphia came in at 5:04 p.m. and reported a loud boom in the Tall Timber Road, New Philadelphia, area.

A second caller soon afterward reported hearing the boom near Buehler's on the north end of Dover. A Dover police officer was sent to check the area, but found nothing.

Dispatchers logged a total of six calls from various locations, all believed to be reporting the same boom.

Fireball 2

Fireball spotted over Nova Scotia

fireball nova scotia
© Benda Levy TateThis one in a million photo was taken by Benda Levy Tate near Shelburne, N.S., Thursday, Sept. 13, 2018, at 10:07 p.m. Atlantic Daylight Time.
Anyone in Nova Scotia who happened to be looking at the night sky at the right time on Thursday evening would have gotten quite a show.

Dozens of skygazers took to social media after a large, glowing ball was spotted above most of the Maritimes, and as far south as Maine to ask a similar question - what the heck was that?

According to David Lane, director of the Burke-Gaffney Observatory at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, the glowing ball was a particularly bright meteor known as a fireball.

"(It) results from a chunk of rock that once orbited around the sun called a meteoroid," Lane told The Chronicle Herald. "The Earth got in its way and it and it burns up in the atmosphere," Lane told The Chronicle Herald.

Fireball 5

Two meteor fireballs spotted over downtown Madison, Wisconsin

Fireball over Madison, WI
© UW AOS
Check out these meteors caught on camera streaking across the sky over the Wisconsin state capitol.

2nd fireball over Madison, WI
© UW AOS
This was the view looking east from atop the UW-Madison's Atmospheric and Oceanic Science Department building.

The first happened just after 9 pm Sunday evening, the other was spotted around 9:45 pm.


Fireball 4

Bright green comet will grace the skies in September

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner
© Rolando LigustriAstrophotographer Rolando Ligustri captured this view of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner on Aug. 14, 2018.
September brings a chance to see a comet. It will be bright enough that you can readily glimpse it using binoculars, though it will be much easier to see using just a small telescope.

Comet Giacobini-Zinner was discovered in December 1900 by the French astronomer Michel Giacobini at the Nice Observatory in France. Initially, Giacobini calculated that this newfound comet had a relatively short orbital period of just under 7 years, but no one saw the object during its anticipated 1907 return.

Then in 1913, about six months before the comet was expected to return to perihelion, the German astronomer Ernst Zinner at the Dr. Karl Remeis-Observatory in Bamberg, Germany, discovered a comet. It carried his name for a week (going by "Comet Zinner") before astronomers figured out that it was, in reality, the lost Comet Giacobini, which had a slightly shorter orbital period than astronomers originally calculated. [Bright Comets of 2018: When, Where and How to See Them]

Question

Mystery boom creates scare in Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
© Wikimedia CommonsIndian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB)
On Thursday afternoon at around 3.30pm, residents around the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) on Bannerghatta road, at Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Uttarahalli and other parts in South Bengaluru heard a loud noise which created panic. Residents said their window panes shook and they heard a 'blast'. The State disaster management officials have announced that the residents should not panic as there was no earthquake.

"We heard a loud noise that lasted for a few seconds. We could see the window pane shaking. We were afraid that it was a tremor," said Kiran K, a resident of JP Nagar. "The loud noise was heard till HSR and Bellandur and this seems like a mystery," said a Bellandur resident.

However, Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Center (KSNMDC) confirmed to BM that there have been no records of tremors. Dr C N Prabhu, a KSNMDC official said, "It was reported that people in and around RR Nagar heard a loud noise, possibly due to an earthquake, on Thursday. But the EQ observatory in Tippagondanahalli did not record any tremor."

Fireball 3

Reports of a huge meteor fireball spotted over Deeside, Wales

Fireball over Wales
© Mark McIntyreFireball recorded over Tackley, Oxfordshire

Several people have reported seeing of a very large and bright meteor over Deeside, Wrexham and the Wider North Wales region just before 9pm on Tuesday night.

Ryan got in touch with Deeside.com to say: "I have just seen a huge comet hurtling towards earth!! I live in Shotton but it really scared me. Must have broken up but i have never seen anything like it."

Nicola who lives Hawarden said: "Just seen(about 9pm-ish) a kind of large white fireball with a tail behind it shoot down the sky!! I thought it was Armageddon!!!"

Wrexham Lager Club (@lagerwxm) Tweeted: "It was big over north Wales and shot across the sky."

Fireball 2

Colorful 'fireball' in night sky seen by people in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, elsewhere on East Coast

Fireball - stock image
Stock image
People across the East Coast reported seeing a "fireball" in the night sky just about midnight, according to the American Meteor Society.

The society has not confirmed if a fireball did fly overhead, but 88 reports were logged, 16 of which came from people in Massachusetts. Reports came from as far south as Florida and as far north as New Hampshire, with reported sightings in nine additional states in between, the society said.

A fireball is another term for a very bright meteor, according to the society. Several thousand fireballs occur in the planet's atmosphere every day, but most are over oceans or uninhabited regions, or are masked by daylight, experts say.

"Additionally, the brighter the fireball, the more rare is the event," the society website reads.

Meteor

Loud boom heard, felt across Twin Lakes Area of Arkansas

Meteor exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia,
© Yekaterina Pustynnikova/APThis famous image of a meteor exploding over Chelyabinsk, Russia, was taken in 2013. Did a smaller one just explode high over the Ozarks?
A loud explosion was heard shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Monday. Residents across the Twin Lakes Area reported hearing the noise.

Local law enforcement officials have reported receiving numerous calls about the noise. One local law enforcement official said people in Fulton County reported hearing the noise as well.

Social media sites had people reporting they heard the noise in places such as Melbourne, Calico Rock, Norfork, Mountain Home, Marion County and rural Baxter County.

Fireball

'Sonic boom', falling meteor startles Canterbury, New Zealand residents

Canterbury fireball
© Amanda CosterA suspected meteor shoots across the North Canterbury sky.
North Cantabrians were treated to an atmospheric spectacle last night when a suspected meteor burned across the evening sky.

People have taken to social media to describe what they saw, with some saying there was a loud "boom", and others thinking it was an earthquake.

In Sefton the Coster family heard a "massive kind of rumble", or "sonic boom", just after 6pm on Monday, Stuff reported.

Amanda Coster said when the family looked out the window they saw an object "burning up and coming down" in the sky, heading towards Mt Gray.

Coster thought it was a meteor, with an "orange glow to it" and leaving a long trail, Stuff reported.

Fireball 2

Meteor fireball lights up the night sky over Perth, Western Australia

Dash cam footage shared on Twitter shows the bright blue light descending through the night skies in Perth
Dash cam footage shared on Twitter shows the bright blue light descending through the night skies in Perth
A mysterious flash of light which lit up Western Australia's dark skies has sparked a fiery debate online about the cause of the illuminating object.

Hundreds of people took to social media to share footage of the flash, which was seen from Mindarie in Perth's north to Meckering in the city's east.

Some witnesses claimed the flash of light was likely a meteorite, although others believed the blue burst looked more like falling debris.

The Perth Observatory had multiple reports of a meteor.

Ralph Gonzalvo was driving on Marangaroo Road headed east when he saw 'a big flash, kind of like lightning.'


Comment: Let's watch that again in slow-motion replay...