Fireballs
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Fireball 5

Surprise asteroid to give Earth a Halloween flyby

Colin Jeffrey
Gizmag
Sun, 18 Oct 2015 16:42 UTC
Asteroid 2015 TB145
© ShutterstockAsteroid 2015 TB145 (not pictured) will pass our planet on October 31, 2015 at approximately 1.3 times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
An asteroid designated 2015 TB145 will pass by the Earth at around 1.3 lunar distances (approximately 310,000 miles or about 499,000 km) on October 31 this year. Estimated to be anywhere between 280 to 620 m (918 to 2,034 ft) in diameter and traveling in excess of 126,000 km/h (78,293 mph), the asteroid was discovered less than two weeks ago using the Pan-STARRS array in Hawaii and is the largest object to so closely approach our planet in recent times.

Before you start panicking, NASA says that the object is expected to safely pass by the Earth and is following an eccentric and high-inclination orbit, which may help explain why it was not discovered until October 10 of this year.

Much closer than a "near miss" of 3.1 lunar distances by another recent asteroid, 2004 BL86, 2015 TB145 is of a similar size or greater than that object, but without an accompanying moon. Nevertheless, this now qualifies as the latest known close encounter, after 2004 XP14 in July 2006 at 1.1 lunar distances, and until the asteroid 1999 AN10 swings by Earth at less than one lunar distance sometime in August 2027.
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Fireball 2

Bright fireball flies through Kiev, Ukraine skies

Astro-alert.ru
YouTube
Sat, 10 Oct 2015 19:09 UTC
Image
© Screenshot via YouTube
A bright fireball in the sky over Kiev October 10, 2015 6:30 AM local time.


Comment: See also: Cosmic Turkey Shoot

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Fireball 4

Impact in Uruguay - House hit by meteorite


Prensa Latina
Thu, 15 Oct 2015 01:04 UTC
Meteor
© Prensa Latina
Uruguayans scientists today revealed the characteristics of a meteorite that fell on a house in the town of San Carlos, a fact that was hidden for nearly a month.

On September 18, the fireball, of an estimated weight of 700 grams, perforated the light roof of the house and destroyed a bed and a television set, according to experts of the Faculty of Science at the University of the Republic.

The reason why the unusual fact was hidden until now is unknown, although the owners of the house and their neighbors reported to researchers at the Department of Astronomy of the Faculty of Sciences.

However, the experts confirmed, that the 'space rock' is indeed a meteorite, since it has slight magnetism and black crust due to the high temperatures generated while entering the atmosphere.

It also presents marks simulating fingerprints, called regmaglypts, on the surface, produced by the molding of hot air on the rock.

Comment: The reason they initially hushed it up is because they feared a public panic.

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Fireball 4

Bright green meteor seen flying across Southern California skies


CBS News - Los Angeles
Wed, 14 Oct 2015 21:42 UTC
Image
© CBSLos Angeles skyline
A lot of people in the Southland reported seeing what looked like a meteor streak across the sky on Tuesday night.

There were tweets from all the way from Ventura to San Diego counties.

The tweets all described the same bright green flash.

CBS Los Angeles also received several calls from those inquiring about the possible meteor.

There was no word yet on exactly what caused this show in the sky, but it certainly had people talking.


Comment: Something wicked this way comes!



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Fireball 3

Meteor fireball breaks up over South Dakota

Megan Raposa
Argus Leader
Mon, 12 Oct 2015 16:26 UTC
Meteor
© tumasia, Getty Images/iStockphotoA handful of South Dakotans reported seeing a meteor in the southeastern part of the state. It has not been confirmed yet if a meteor actually hit.
Jason Rumpca of Beresford was driving to Sioux Falls from Pierre Sunday night when a bright streak lit up the sky.

"I could see glowing orange debris (and) fragments falling from it as it entered the atmosphere," Rumpca said.

He wasn't the only one to catch a glimpse of the meteor-like flash, which prompted social media posts and calls to authorities.

The Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office received a call around 9:15 p.m. from a Lake Andes woman reporting a bright light in the sky, kind of like lightning. A nearby officer verified the sighting, according to the sheriff's office.

"(It) looked like a large ball of fire with pieces falling off as it got closer to the ground," Bobby Mousseau, a police officer in Santee, Neb., said. "It disappeared well before the ground."

The National Weather Service in Sioux Falls heard reports about the flash but was unable to confirm the meteor claim.
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Fireball

Meteor fireball blazes over Australia skies likely 'space junk'

David Barwell
The Coffs Coast Advocate
Sun, 11 Oct 2015 18:00 UTC
Image
© NASAFile photo from 2013
The bright light that streaked across the sky above Coffs Harbour early on Saturday morning was probably a piece of space junk crashing back to Earth, astronomy groups say. The mysterious light blazed up at about 2:10am and was witnessed by sky-watchers across the Coffs Coast, with reports also recorded as far south as Newcastle.

Coincidentally, the sighting came as Asteroid 86666 was due to skim past Earth - one of the biggest asteroids to pass our planet in recent times.

But the bright lights were no meteor, according to Roberto Cornale of the Coffs Harbour Astronomical Society, who said the occurrence was probably due to space junk falling to earth. "The cause was likely space debris which was breaking up as it entered the atmosphere," Mr Cornale said. "It's a reasonably common occurrence and not too surprising considering the amount of man-made rubbish that is circling Earth."


Comment: Right, but the amount of man-made debris up there is DWARFED by the amount of space rocks in the near-Earth environment. Thus it is FAR more likely that people saw another meteor fireball.


Read the rest of this article here.

Comment: See also:

Space Junk Rising Exponentially (and No, It's Not Man-Made)

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Fireball

Bright fireball hits the atmosphere over Portugal and Spain

Meteors
You Tube
Wed, 30 Sep 2015 16:48 UTC
Image
Bright and slow fireball produced by a cometary fragment that hit the atmosphere at 100.000 km/h. The event overflew Portugal and Spain and penetrated the atmosphere till a final height of about 35 km, more than normal for cometary materials impacting the atmosphere. Recorded by meteor observing stations operated by the University of Huelva at La Hita (Toledo) and Sevilla

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Meteor

Incoming! Meteor captured over Liverpool, UK skies

Helen Davies
Liverpool Echo
Tue, 06 Oct 2015 13:28 UTC
This blazing image of a bright orange trail was captured in the skies above Liverpool by an ECHO reader.
Image
© Val Lovatt
Val Lovatt took the photos of the stunning sight over Newsham Park last Friday evening at about 6.30pm. She has now sent the images to the ECHO, thinking it might be a meteor. Others also spoke on social media about seeing a "meteor" in the evening sky.

The 57-year-old betting shop worker said: "I was made up with the pictures, it was just a case of being in the right place at the right time. "I was taking pictures on my camera in the park and had just been down to the lake taking photos." The ECHO asked Ken Clark, from the Liverpool Astronomical Society, to study the photographs in a bid to identify the glowing orange streak in the sky.

Val Lovatt took the photos of the stunning sight over Newsham Park last Friday evening at about 6.30pm. He concluded the fireball-like streak was in fact a trail left by an aeroplane which appears orange because of the sunset. Mr Clark said: "I've studied the images carefully and I'm afraid it's not a meteor but something commonly mistaken for one - a jet aircraft.

"The sun has set but the plane is still catching sunlight, hence the redness of the image, at such high altitude and the 'tail' is the exhaust vapour trail of the engines which are clearly in two lanes corresponding to the engine's positions on the aircraft.
Image

Comment: This was likely a meteor, not something caused by a jet. Just more damage control to prevent people from knowing about cyclic bombardments from space rocks.

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Fireball

Meteor explodes over Paraná, Brazil


Strange Sounds
Wed, 23 Sep 2015 12:32 UTC
Image
A meteor exploded in the sky of Brazil on September 22, 2015.

Yes, a flash of green light came down from heaven in a cloud of fire with a fiery tail, before exploding in a big bang... Did you see it? Did you hear it?

I think the guy is the video is trying roller blades... Too bad for him, the interresting thing happened in its back. Be careful @ around 7 sec:


The fireball video was recorded at around 7:40 pm in Cascavel, Paraná, Brazil, but has also been reported in several other cities in the state.
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Fireball 3

"Bright Green Flash" over Wyoming was an exploding meteor, says astronomy buff


County 10
Mon, 05 Oct 2015 19:57 UTC
Image
The bright green flash on the right is a possible meteor headed into the atmosphere.
County10.com reported last week on what the flash of light across Wyoming skies on the night of Saturday Sept. 26, might have been. Now, a longtime Cody area astronomy buff has provided further context/answers:
"The observed flash was in fact a Bolide meteor, not an Iridium flash or reentering manmade space junk. I saw it plainly from my campsite 28 miles SSE of Tensleep / ~38 miles west of Kaycee on the upper Nowood River," said Dewey Vanderhoff in comments made to Reboot.

"The meteor occurred at 8h:26m :40s PM- MDT. It appeared just above the 'handle' of the Big Dipper between the 1st and 2nd principal stars, and descended rapidly straight down and a little obliquely to the right ( north) . It first appeared 32 ° high in the WNW at an azimuth 309° ( 39° north of due west) . The meteor lasted maybe 3-4 seconds , brightening the entire way. In the last third of the trajectory the meteor became an incandescent green , and exploded just above my relative horizon. There was no sound of concussion in the following 5 minutes or so, as sometimes can be heard."
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