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Fireball 4

Meteorite lands in Leeds garden

Meteorite
© Yorkshire Evening Post
Is it an astronomical gift or something much more mundane? David Stevenson is not sure, but he does know that a glowing hot rock appeared in his Leeds garden, apparently leaving a burning 'impact' site in its wake.

The 46-year-old was at home in Bramley with a friend when in the early hours of the morning he walked outside to the smell of burning. He found a circular area of grass on his lawn, about a metre wide, that was smouldering away and giving off wisps of smoke.

He retired to bed baffled but it was only upon closer inspection in the light of day that he discovered a weighty rock, roughly the size of two tennis balls near to the area of parched ground.

Having dismissed any prank or mischief, Mr Stevenson believes the rock may be a fragment of meteorite that has been sent crashing onto his garden lawn from outer space. His own tests have found it to be magnetic and it was initially giving off enough heat to light a cigarette.

Meteor

Meteor fireball lights up the sky over San Diego, California - August 15, 2016

Fireball over San Diego
A 'fireball' of some kind was caught streaking across the San Diego sky overnight.

A CBS 8 viewer captured video of the mysterious streak along El Cajon Boulevard in City Heights.

We haven't heard of an explanation for the 'fireball' yet, but a few residents called saying they saw it and that it was a meteor.


Comment: Another video recorded on the same day:




Fireball 5

Meteor fireball recorded over Spain on 15 August 2016

meteor fireball over Spain
© SMART Project (screen capture)
This bright fireball was recorded on Aug. 15 at 0:04 UT (2:04 local time). It was produced by a cometary meteoroid that hit the atmosphere at about 85.000 km/h. The meteor belongs to the kappa-Cygnid meteor shower and began at an altitude of about 105 km. It ended at about 58 km over the ground level.


Meteor

Meteor fireball flies over Malaga, Granada provinces in Spain

Malaga fireball
At 4:42 local time (2:42 UT) of August 6th 2016, SMART Project detectors had registered a fire ball that flew over Granada and Málaga provinces.

The analysis carried out by the SMART Project PI José María Madiedo (University of Huelva), points that this fireball was generated due to the impact with our atmosphere of a Perseid meteoroid.The fireball started at an altitude of about 126 km over Granada province,moving southwestward and having a final altitude of about 72 km over Málaga province.

The event was recorded from fireball detection station that SMART Project operate at Calar Alto, La Sagra, La Hita, Sevilla and Huelva.
Malaga and Granada provinces
© spainmaps.es

Comet 2

Comets & Asteroids - Summary for July 2016

During the month of July 2016, 1 new comet has been discovered and there were 4 comet recoveries. An international team of astronomers discovered a new dwarf planet (designated 2015 RR245) orbiting in the disk of small icy worlds beyond Neptune. The Team Radar at Arecibo observed the Near-Earth asteroid (154244) 2002 KL6. "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

July 18 Discovery of C/2016 N4 (MASTER)
C/2016 N4 ( MASTER )
© Jean-Gabriel BoschComet C/2016 N4 (MASTER).
Comet Recoveries

July 04 Recovery of P/2009 K1 (GIBBS) as P/2016 M2
July 04 Recovery of P/2008 J3 (McNAUGHT) as P/2016 N1
July 06 Recovery of P/2008 T1 (BOATTINI) as P/2016 N2
July 18 Recovery of P/2007 R3 (GIBBS) as P/2016 N3

Fireball 2

Perseid meteor shower contained 14 fireballs over the U.S. on August 4th

File photo of meteor
File photo of meteor
The Perseid meteor shower can also produce fireballs in the sky. In fact, last night 14 fireballs were produced from the Perseid meteor shower.

Fireballs are meteors that have a glowing tail. They are officially rated fireballs if the glowing tail is brighter than Venus.

Mike Murray, astronomer at the Delta College Planetarium, says the Perseid meteor shower gives us the best chance all year to see fireballs. Fireballs are created when the larger meteors take a longer time to burn up and disappear. By larger, Murray says the fireball meteors are still only about the size of a pea.

NASA has a camera network of 15 cameras pointing at the sky. These cameras can see and record the fireballs. Groups of these cameras are located in the Southeast U.S., the Northeast U.S. and the Southwest U.S.

Meteor

'Unusally large' meteor fireball explodes over Denver, Colorado

Denver fireball
© Chris Peterson, Cloudbait Observatory, Research Associate, Denver Museum of Nature and Science
If you happened to be up early Monday and saw a bright flash of light in the northern sky then you probably witnessed a very large meteor exploding as it entered Earth's atmosphere.

The event happened at 3:23 a.m. and was captured by two cameras in Colorado, one mounted on the roof of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science and the other at the Cloudbait Observatory in Guffey.

"By combining the data from both cameras, I can determine that the fireball exploded over Cheyenne, Wyo., at a height of 105 km (roughly 65 miles)," said Chris Peterson with Cloudbait Observatory. Peterson describes the meteor as being unusually large with a brightness similar to the full Moon and having a large breakup in mid-flight, leaving enough material to continue burning afterward.

"Usually explosions like this are terminal, completely disrupting the body and leaving nothing to continue," said Peterson. It's not known if the meteor was part of the Southern Delta Aquarid meteor shower, currently in progress, or if it had a different origin.

CBS4 Photojournalist Rob McClure happened to see it and said it lasted about 10 seconds.

Peterson is looking for anyone else who witnessed the meteor. You can click here to file a report.

Video footage is available here.

Fireball 4

Bright greenish-blue meteor fireball explodes over Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico meteor fireball
© YouTube/kevinizooropa (screen capture)
A greenish bright meteor was visible from several areas of the island on the night of July 26, 2016, reported the Caribbean Astronomical Society (SAC). The educational institution conducted an analysis suggesting it was a meteor Alfa Capricornids, a slight meteor shower associated with comet debris 169P / NEAT.

Although Capricornids Alfa is not a meteor shower well known and is not intense, it can produce bright meteor. A curious fact is that gradually the area of ​​waste comet 169P / NEAT will be in the future closer to the path where the Earth orbits the sun. Both, estimated could produce "meteor storms", ie showers very intense meteor from the year 2220 so our distant descendants will be those who will enjoy such intense spectacle of nature.

Meanwhile, we can make do with seeing a few that will be visible in the next few nights. On these nights some related to light rain and Alfa Delta Aquarid meteors will be Capricornids while in mid-August will be the Perseids, which is anticipated this could be more active than usual year, the SAC said.

Visit www.SociedadAstronomia.com and Facebook.com/sociedad.astronomia

(translated by google)


Fireball 3

Fireball spotted over much of Western and Northern California

Fireball over NOCAL
© KCRA viewer Daniel Miles

KCRA viewer Daniel Miles shared this photo on Wednesday, July 27, 2016.
A streak of light was seen over the eastern sky of Northern California Wednesday night. The light was also seen over Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Reno.It is unclear what caused the light, which was first spotted around 9:45 p.m.

According to NASA, the Delta Aquarids meteor shower is expected to peak Thursday and Friday. It is also possible the streak was caused by space junk. NORAD and U.S. Strategic Command said they did not know what the streak of light was.

No other details were available.


Comment: Electrically charged meteors can travel very slowly and tend to disintegrate and shed as they do.


Fireball 5

Meteor fireball seen flying through Phoenix skies

Fireball over Phoenix, AZ
© KHPO/KTVK
Valley residents have seen their share of unusual lights in the sky over the years, and it happened again Thursday night. It happened just after 9 p.m. Viewer Robert Northrop posted video of the odd light on his Facebook page.

While the light is nothing like the bright meteor that was seen -- and heard -- all over the state, it's definitely something.

What kind of something we do not know yet but check out the video. The light is small and fast so we highlighted it to make it easier for you to see.

You can see the light enter the top of the frame left of center. It zips down on a diagonal, briefly disappearing and then flicking once more before vanishing behind the light.