Fireballs
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Galaxy

Rogue star Gilese 710 hurtling towards our solar system will arrive sooner than we thought

Gliese 623 A
Gliese 710 may be as dim as a red dwarf star, like Gliese 623 A (M2.5V) and B (M5.8Ve) at lower right.
According to new calculations, we may have a little less time to prepare for a star on course to kiss the edges of our Solar System.

Yep. Dwarf star Gliese 710, which we've known about for some time, could now arrive in 1.29 million years, instead of the previously calculated 1.36 million years.

Gliese 710 is what is classified as a rogue star - one that has gone roaming across the galaxy, free of the gravitational chains that normally hold stars in position.

At a speed of 51,499 kilometres per hour (32,000 miles per hour), it's not quite fast enough to be considered a runaway star, but it's still travelling at a hefty clip.

Comment: Whilst the flyby is apparently over a million years away, we should bear in mind that Gilese 710 is a body we know about and the predictions are based on our current models, because it is often the case that we are taken by surprise:


Fireball 2

Bright meteor fireball observed over Brazil

meteor fireball over Brazil
© exoss.org and Sergio Luis
The American Meteor Society (AMS) has received 78 reports about a meteor fireball seen over the Brazilian states of São Paulo, Minas Gerais and Paraná on Monday, May 7th 2018 around 23:14 UT.

A video of the event was uploaded by Bramon, the Brazilian Meteor Observation Network.


Question

Southeast Michigan residents report hearing loud house-rattling 'boom'

Mystery boom in MI
© 13ABC
Some people in Southeast Michigan have reported hearing a loud "boom" that they say sounded, and felt, like an explosion.

People living in and near Bedford Township tell 13abc they heard the loud noise just before 8:30 Sunday evening.

Some viewers say they believe it happened on Erie Road between Crabb and Minx.

A 13abc crew drove to the area and found a Monroe County Deputy patrolling the road.

That deputy told 13abc he was called to check out the sound, but hadn't found anything suspicious.

The law enforcement officer did say, however, that he felt his cruiser shake around the same time that noise was reported.

Fireball 2

Meteor fireball lights up the sky over New Jersey

fireball
A bright meteor described as "bright and beautiful" streaked across the sky over New Jersey on Thursday.

"I was driving Route 206 North just south of the Somerville Circle just before 9 p.m., and I saw something streak across the sky, with a pretty bright ball with a long tail. Then it just went dark," Lorna Morehead of Bridgewater told New Jersey 101.5.

Reports to the meteor reporting website amsmeteors.org came from New Jersey and neighboring Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New York. In New Jersey, reports came from Keyport, Greenwich, Scotch Plains, Montclair, Lebanon, Manasquan, Rockaway, Franklin Lakes, and Springfield Township in Union County.


Fireball 3

Meteor fireball filmed flying over São Paulo, Brazil

Fireball over Brazil
© Exoss Citizen Science
On April 18, YouTube user 'Exoss Citizen Science' published footage of a meteor as it flew over São Paulo, Brazil around 7:30 p.m.


Fireball 2

Meteor fireball seen over New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey

Fireball over the US East Coast
© J. Gresham
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 13 reports about a fireball seen over New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New Jersey on Friday, April 20th 2018 around 00:44 UT. The event was caught on film by J. Gresham and the footage uploaded to YouTube by AMS.


Fireball 2

Bright meteor fireball observed over Spain

Meteor over Spain
© YouTube/Meteors (screen capture)
YouTube user 'Meteors' reported a bright meteor over Spain on April 16, 2018. It may have been produced by a fragment from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 100.000 km/h. The event begun at an altitude of about 100 km and ended at a height of around 55 km. It was recorded in the framework of the SMART Project (University of Huelva) from the meteor-observing stations located at the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto (Almería), La Sagra (Granada), La Hita (Toledo) and Sevilla.


Meteor

Loud house-shaking boom in central Texas attributed to 2lbs of tannerite

Boom in Tx
© Temple Daily News
Some Rogers residents said their homes were shaken and so were their nerves Thursday night after a loud boom happened sometime after 8:30 p.m.

Robyn Skrhak took to Facebook to ask her neighbors if they knew what happened. Some people said they heard it, while others said they felt it.

Skrhak thought something hit her house, she said.

Bell County Sheriff's Department Maj. T.J. Cruz said deputies were sent at about 8:44 p.m. to the area of an apartment complex on Rogers Cemetery Road for an explosion and possible grass fire.

Comment: We doubt that two pounds of tannerite could cause a boom that would shake homes. A close-range blast shown below didn't even shake the video recorder:




Fireball 4

Bright meteor fireball with sonic boom reported over Central Europe, meteorites possible

meteor over europe
© American Meteor Society (AMS) (screen capture)Observers map: event 1336-2018
A bright green meteor fireball was observed and captured on camera as it streaked over Central Europe (Austria, S Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia) at 18:49 UTC (20:49 CET) on April 8, 2018. The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 50 reports of the event (1336-2018) including numerous ones citing sonic booms and fragmentation.

According to Siol.net the event lasted about five seconds and was at least as bright as the moon. Meteorites may be possible.


The event was captured on video:


Comment: See also: BOOM! Mysterious blasts rattling the skies are on the increase around the world - UPDATE at least 64 documented events (VIDEO) and Michigan Meteor Event: Fireball Numbers Increased Again in 2017


Fireball

Bright meteor fireball spotted over southern Spain

Fireball over Spain
© University of Huelva/Prof. Jose M. Madiedo
YouTube user 'Meteors' reported a bright meteor over Spain on April 1, 2018. The meteor flew over the provinces of Granada, Almería and Murcia. The event was recorded by the SMART Project (University of Huelva) from the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto (Almería), La Sagra (Granada), La Hita (Toledo) and Sevilla.