Fireballs
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New comet discovered: C/2016 K1 (LINEAR)

Ernesto Guido
Remanzacco Blogspot
Mon, 06 Jun 2016 18:03 UTC

CBET nr. 4282, issued on 2016, June 05, announces the discovery of an apparently asteroidal object (magnitude ~18.5) found on CCD images taken on May 31 with the 3.5-m f/1 Space Surveillance Telescope on Atom Peak in the White Sands Missile Range, NM, USA, in the course of the LINEAR survey. This object has been found to cometary appearance by CCD astrometrists elsewhere after it was posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage. The new comet has been designated C/2016 K1 (LINEAR).

We performed follow-up measurements of this object, while it was still on the neocp. Stacking of 10 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2016, June 04.4 from H06 (iTelescope network - New Mexico) through a 0.43-m f/6.8 astrograph + CCD + f/4.5 focal reducer, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma nearly 8 arcsec in diameter elongated toward PA 225.

Our confirmation image (click on it for a bigger version)

M.P.E.C. 2016-L34 assigns the following preliminary parabolic orbital elements to comet C/2016 K1: T 2016 July 14.36; e= 1.0; Peri. = 18.66; q = 2.29; Incl.= 90.94

Bright meteor fireball visible from the entire island of Puerto Rico

Strange Sounds
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 16:14 UTC

A bright fireball struck the sky over Puerto Rico on June 2, 2016 at around 9 pm.

The slow meteor was visible from the entire island moving from Northeast to Southeast.

The Caribbean Astronomical Society (SAC) noted that the remarkable meteor was reported from Juncos, Vega Alta and to Mayaguez, so across the entire island.

The bolide was bright enough to outshine the clouds.

It was like a glowing sphere, like a big shooting star with a long light blue tail.

Comment: See also this other recent report from the same island on May 25th: Bright meteor fireball captured over Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

International Space Station cameras capture meteor fireball streaking through space

Daily Mail, UK
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 09:40 UTC

UFO hunters claim to have spotted yet another unidentified object passing close to the International Space Station.

The footage, posted on YouTube by SecureTeam10, appears to show a streak of light captured by the cameras on-board the ISS.

Hundreds have commented on the video, offering their thoughts on what the object could be.

UFO hunters claim to have spotted yet another unidentified object passing close to the International Space Station. The footage, posted on YouTube by SecureTeam10 , appears to show a streak of light captured by the cameras on-board the ISS (pictured to the right of the silver module)

According to the video's narrator, SecureTeam received the footage via email from someone who was combing through hours of recordings of ISS live streams.

'This amazing footage of the ISS...has got me very excited,' said Tyler from SecureTeam.

It shows a streak of light passing behind the International Space Station when the orbiting base is in the shadow of the Earth.

The burst of light appears in the background for just a few seconds, changing colour from white to red before disappearing.

'When you look at this thing up close, it comes directly up out of nowhere, out of the darkness of space,' explains the video's narrator.

He proclaims: 'It can't be a fireball, 'cos there's no air in space - hence there can't be any fire,' before adding: 'My mind is just blown. What is this thing?'.

Loud bang over New Zealand town remains a mystery

Georgia Forrester
Stuff.co.nz
Fri, 03 Jun 2016 05:39 UTC

The source of a loud echoing bang has the Palmerston North police and fire service baffled. A "deep resounding bang" was heard at about 10pm on Thursday, near Kelvin Grove. A police spokesperson said police attended the callout but they were not able to locate its source.

"It was a definitely a loud deep bang - nothing like a gun shot bang, which is quick and high pitch.

Palmerston North Astronomical Society member Noel Munford said the noise could have been a sonic boom created from a fire ball.

But he said if it was a fire ball, then there would have been reports of people seeing a "bright light", burning space junk, shooting across the sky. Gail Lucinsky said she heard the explosive sound from the bottom of Pahiatua Track.

"It was so loud that I jumped out of my skin thinking that one of my parents had fallen heavily and hit the wall in the room behind me."

She said she went outside to look for a source but could not find anything.

"A transformer exploding was suggested as a likely cause, but we couldn't see any part of Palmy in darkness, so it remained a mystery," she said.

Sofia Butler said she heard the explosion sound "very loud and clear" from Lombard St.

"I also heard lots of teens roaming around the streets which at the time I thought may be responsible for that big bang. I haven't heard anything like it to be fair."

Strange orange object seen in New Zealand's sky

New Zealand Herald
Thu, 02 Jun 2016 21:08 UTC

A Kawerau woman says a "hard to miss" strange glowing object in the night sky has her baffled. (Watch video)

Rebecca Couchman was standing on her deck in Kawerau with her partner and a friend on Wednesday night when they all witnessed "a strange object in the sky that did not look normal".

"It was orange/red and moving across the sky. There was no sound at all. It was silent."

She said she did not believe it was a plane.

"We were standing out on the deck and it was hard to miss but right across the sky was an orange/red light moving fairly fast heading out towards Maketu way then all of a sudden it just disappeared.

"There was three of us and none of us have ever seen anything like it before.

Huge fireball lights up night sky over Phoenix, Arizona - Residents stunned as meteor explodes, shaking homes

RT
Thu, 02 Jun 2016 12:48 UTC

phoenix airzona meteor dashcam screenshot 2 Jun 2016

No, that's not the sun

Comment: In terms of size, this doesn't seem to have been 'a small meteor' - it sounds more like it was a comet fragment!

Will we be seeing another Chelyabinsk type event in the not too distant future?

A meteor flared across the sky over Phoenix, Arizona Thursday morning, reportedly waking many residents from their slumber with the sound of a loud bang as it passed.

Locals took to social media to question what the noise was, as others confirmed it was a meteor streaking through the sky.

Comment: Notice the recent uptick in meteor fireball events, as well as the increase in lightning deaths, volcanic eruptions, and extreme weather.

Two meteor fireballs illuminate Brazilian skies on two subsequent nights

Strange Sounds
Wed, 01 Jun 2016 07:14 UTC

On May 29 and May 30, 2016, two fireball explosions illuminated the sky of Brazil. The first event was so big, it was captured by five different cameras. Awesome meteor videos.

On May 29, 2016, 5 cameras from Bramon, the Brazilian Meteor Observation Network, simultaneously captured a disintegrating fireball over Varginha, Minas Gerais, Brazil.

The major fireball almost entered the atmosphere vertically (97°) at an altitude of 96 km The rock disintegrated rather rapidly in a strong but short explosion brighter than the full moon at about 28 km above sea level!

First orbital analyses show that this space rock may be of cometary origin and thus related to a meteor shower.

Comment: Another meteor fireball was recorded over Brazil just over a week ago.

Comets & Asteroids - Summary for May 2016

Ernesto Guido
Remanzacco Blogspot
Tue, 31 May 2016 18:28 UTC

During the month of May 2016, 2 new comets were discovered and cometary activity was detected for 1 previously discovered object (earlier designated as an asteroid).

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope imaged comet 252P/LINEAR just after it swept by Earth on March 21, 2016 while the Subaru Telescope serendipitously captured high-resolution images of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Moreover a non-gravitational acceleration has been detected influencing the motion of minor planet (85990) (see below for more about these news). "Current comet magnitudes" & "Daily updated asteroid flybys" pages are available at the top of this blog (or just click on the underline text here).

The dates below refer to the date of issuance of CBET (Central Bureau Electronic Telegram) which reported the official news & designations.

Comet Discoveries

May 09 Discovery of P/2016 J1 (PANSTARRS)*
May 09 Discovery of C/2016 J2 (DENNEAU)

* According to the discovery CBET, follow-up images obtained at the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope atop Mauna Kea on May 6.43 showed a second comet in the field. "The two components are moving at nearly identical rates in nearly identical directions (both about 0".6/minute in p.a. about 314 deg).

The brighter component (designated component A) displays a clear and quite thin tail about 10" long in p.a. 250 deg in the May 6.43 images. The fainter object (designated component B) also displays a clear but broader tail of similar length, oriented toward p.a. about 210 deg". The available astrometry for both components and ephemerides appear on MPEC 2016-J90

Bright meteor fireball captured over Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico

Strange Sounds
Sat, 28 May 2016 07:24 UTC

This fireball was captured on May 25, 2016 at 12:35am local time. It was located just south of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico in the sky above the Caribbean Sea.