Fireballs
S


Fireball 5

Meteorite lands in Tamil Nadu, killing one and injuring three

Crater
© The HinduThe crater formed after the object, believed to be a meteorite, fell on the campus of Bharathidasan Engineering College, near Natrampalli, in Vellore on Saturday.
One person was killed and three others were injured when an object believed to a meteorite fell on the campus of a private engineering college near Natrampalli in Vellore district in northern Tamil Nadu early on Saturday.

According to police sources, a loud blast was heard near a water tank shortly after midnight on the Bharathidasan Engineering College premises in K.Bandarappalli village. Kamaraj, a college employee, who had gone to drink water suffered serious injuries and was declared dead when taken to the Vaniyambadi Government Hospital. Three others suffered minor injuries. Window panes and wind screens of buses parked nearby and the water tank were broken in the impact of the blast. A crater was formed at the site of blast.

Though there was suspicion that it was a bomb blast, preliminary investigation by forensic and bomb experts showed no sign of any explosive substance at the scene. Pieces of a rare kind of stone were found and samples taken for analysis by scientists.

Comment: Video footage taken moments after the overhead meteor explosion that showered meteorites down on the town of Vellore, southern India:




Fireball 5

Meteor fireball streaks over skies of southern Wisconsin, US

meteor fireball over Wisconsin
© Youtube/TODAY’S TMJ4 (screen capture)
Multiple sources have reported seeing some sort of fireball or meteor over the skies of southern Wisconsin Monday evening.

The Muscoda Police Department caught video of the fireball on a squad dash cam facing east:


That wasn't the only sighting. UW-Madison's Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences school also caught the spectacular display from one of their rooftop cameras.

Comment: The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 160 reports yesterday about a fireball seen over Wisconsin and neighbouring states. On January 30th 2016 there were 880 reports of meteor fireball sightings over Northeast US and Canada. See also: Fireball seen over Northeast US

NASA space data supports citizens' observations: Meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically


Comet 2

Summary of comets and asteroids news for January 2016

This post introduces a new monthly column that will serve as a summary of the most important news about comets & asteroids and an overview of the comets discovered (and recovered) throughout the month just ended. During the month of January 2016, 8 new comets were discovered, there were 2 recoveries and cometary activity has been reported for 2 previously discovered objects (earlier designated as asteroids).

Moreover, observations of a secondary companion for comet P/2015 Y2 = P/2010 V1 (IKEYA-MURAKAMI) and the discovery of the binary nature of asteroid (2242) BALATON have been reported. "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

Jan 07 Discovery of C/2016 A1 (PANSTARRS)
Jan 07 Discovery of P/2016 A2 (CHRISTENSEN)
Jan 07 Discovery of C/2016 A3 (PANSTARRS)
Jan 16 Discovery of C/2016 A5 (PANSTARRS)
Jan 20 Discovery of C/2016 A6 (PANSTARRS)
Jan 23 Discovery of P/2016 A7 (PANSTARRS)
Jan 23 Discovery of C/2016 B1 (NEOWISE)
Jan 29 Discovery of C/2016 A8 (LINEAR)
Comet C/2016 B1 (NEOWISE).
© J. Masiero/Gemini Observatory/AURAComet C/2016 B1 (NEOWISE).

Fireball 4

Fireball seen over Northeast US

Fireball over DC
© Alex Salvador via TwitterFireball captured by dashcam of Alex Salvador at 6:17 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016.
Scores of witnesses in northern Virginia, Maryland, and the District spotted a brilliant fireball dashing through the sky around 6:17 p.m. Saturday evening.

The fireball, defined as a very bright meteor, entered the region from the north according to reports. It was seen all over the Northeast U.S. and even southeast Canada. Specifically, Capital Weather Gang obtained reports from Baltimore, New Jersey, New York, Michigan, and Ontario via Twitter.

Observers described it as "huge" and "very bright" but then noted it fizzled, disintegrating into fragments.


Comment: Two planes also got it on tape:






Fireball 2

Fireball meteor burns through South Georgia skies

AMS Event #266-2016 – Heat map of the witnesses and estimated ground trajectory
AMS Event #266-2016 – Heat map of the witnesses and estimated ground trajectory
Dozens of spotters sighted a fireball burning its way through the skies of South Georgia and North Florida Sunday, and a Valdosta State University astronomer said it may have been a meteorite making landfall in the region.

More than 50 reports of an "extremely bright daytime fireball" around 10:25 a.m. have been submitted to the American Meteor Society, according to the group's website. Most of the sightings were to the east and southeast of Valdosta, though some sightings were made in the Tallahassee, Fla., area to Valdosta's west, according to a map on the website.

Dr. Martha Leake of the physics, astronomy and geosciences department at Valdosta State said she was alerted to the fireball by Dr. William Cooke, a VSU graduate and head of the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

"Apparently, Doppler weather radar tracked it down to an altitude of a mile," she said, indicating "significant material on the ground." Leake said the lack of sightings in and around Valdosta may have been due to the position of the sun at the time.

Fireball 2

Fireball meteor disintegrates over Lviv, Ukraine

fireball
The sky of the largest city in western Ukraine was visited by a disintegrating bright white fireball on January 23, 2016, local time.

The entry of this space rock must have been impressive and has most probably created a loud sonic boom.


Here another video from the same event... From another camera of the network:


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball observed over the Mediterranean Sea - 19.01.16

meteor over the Mediterranean Sea
© SMART Project (screen capture)
Meteorite-producing fireball observed on 19 Jan 2016 (at about 23h59m UT). The event took place over the Mediterranean Sea. It was recorded by the meteor-observing stations operated by the University of Huelva at Calar Alto, La Hita and La Sagra astronomical observatories.


Fireball 5

Bright meteor fireball lights up evening skies in Finland

Finland fireball
© Aki TaavitsainenA file photo of a meteorite captured over the skies of Mikkeli in October 2015.
There were many of reports of a large, bright fireball that lit up skies over towns across southern Finland at about 8 pm on Saturday. Some eyewitnesses of the phenomenon said it looked like lightning or a camera flash. Still others reported they also heard a thunder-like rumbling afterwards.

The website of astronomy magazine Tähdet ja avaruus, which uses the assistance of astronomers from across Finland, says that there were some 200 reports of sightings of a bright flash of light in the dark skies of southern and western areas at about 8 pm Saturday.

According to Tähdet ja avaruus the flashing light was likely a meteorite but said they had not yet seen Saturday night's incident captured in a photograph.

If the suspected meteorite was photographed, it might be possible to determine its trajectory and possibly learn if the object may have reached the Earth's surface.

Large, bright meteorites are regularly seen in the skies of Finland several times a year.


Meteor

Massive Apollo asteroid 1685 Toro, possible source of first recorded case of meteorite hitting an American, makes fly-by today

Apollo belt
There are around 7,000 asteroids in the Apollo belt.
The space rock known as 1685 Toro is classed as an Apollo asteroid - a group of nearly 7,000 which cross the Earth's orbit and are known to often send large numbers of meteorites crashing to the surface of our planet.

The infamous meteorite which exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February 2013, injuring 1,000 people, is believed to have originated from an Apollo asteroid.

The monster rock is believed to be up to 4km-long (2.4miles) and although it passes us at the relatively safe distance of 14 million miles, NASA describes it as a "close approach" and is closely monitoring it to learn more about the asteroid that could one day threaten Earth.

It is thought to be the asteroid that was responsible for sending the first recorded event in the USA of a meteor crashing to Earth which hit and injured a human.

On November 30 1954 Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, USA, was injured by a falling meteorite.

Comment: Chelyabinsk meteor strike - a wake-up call for the world


Fireball 4

Meteor fireball filmed over Hungary

Meteor fireball over Hungary
© Youtube/Zoli Vinkler (screen capture)
Meteor fireball over Hungary 15.01.2016


Comment: NASA space data supports citizens' observations: Meteor fireballs are increasing dramatically