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Comet 2

New Comet P/2019 LM4 (Palomar)

Ernesto Guido
Remanzacco Blogspot
Fri, 15 May 2020 18:24 UTC
CBET 4775 & MPEC 2020-J68, issued on 2020, May 14, announce that an apparently asteroidal object discovered on images taken at Palomar on 2019 June 4 and 7 with the 1.2-m f/2.4 Schmidt telescope (and given the minor-planet designation 2019 LM_4 when published on MPS 1001527, along with observations made elsewhere on June 8) has been re-discovered showing cometary appearance at two other observatories. The new comet has been designated P/2019 LM4 (Palomar).

According to the CBET 4775: B. Li reported the discovery by G. Zhaori of an extended object on images taken by L. F. Hu with the 1.04-m f/1.8 Schmidt telescope at the XuYi Station of Purple Mountain Observatory on May 11 UT in the course of the "Chinese Near Earth Object Survey" (discovery observations tabulated below). Before the object was posted on the Minor Planet Center's NEOCP webpage, it wasdiscovered independently in images obtained with the Pan-STARRS1 1.8-m Ritchey-Chretien reflector at Haleakala on May 12, with Y. Ramanjooloo (University of Hawaii) reporting that the full-width-at-half-maximum size was 3".6 compared to 1".2 for nearby stars. Observations were subsequently identified at the Minor Planet of yet another apparent independent discovery of the comet from 2020 May 9.5 at mag 16.4-17.0 with a 0.5-m f/2 Schmidt reflector at Haleakala, Hawaii, in the course of the "Asteroid Terrestrial- Impact Last Alert System" (ATLAS) search program, though it appears that the ATLAS team did not report it as a comet.

Comet P/2019 LM4Palomar
© Remanzacco Blogspot
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Fireball 2

Meteor fireball lights up sky over parts of southeast US

Cutter Martin
WRDW-TV
Thu, 14 May 2020 17:27 UTC
Southeast US meteor

The May 14, 2020, light in the sky can be seen in the upper left corner of this photo.
A fireball and bright flash were reported across portions of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas early Thursday morning.

A bright flash was seen by some in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry around 12:45 a.m. The sight was even captured by some home security cameras.

Several reports were logged by the American Meteor Society. Fireballs, shootings stars, etc. are fairly common sights across the world. But, of course, it has to be pretty dark (and clear) to truly notice them.

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Info

New evidence reveals that giant meteorite impacts formed parts of the Moon's crust


Royal Ontario Museum
Mon, 11 May 2020 19:50 UTC
Moon Impact
© Daniel D. Durda/FIAAA
An artist’s impression of how the early Moon was reshaped by an intense period of bombardment. A new study reveals that large impacts could have produced the range of lunar rocks sampled by the Apollo missions over 4.3 billion years ago.
Toronto, Canada - New research published today in the journal Nature Astronomy reveals a type of destructive event most often associated with disaster movies and dinosaur extinction may have also contributed to the formation of the Moon's surface.

A group of international scientists led by the Royal Ontario Museum has discovered that the formation of ancient rocks on the Moon may be directly linked to large-scale meteorite impacts.

The scientists conducted new research of a unique rock collected by NASA astronauts during the 1972 Apollo 17 mission to the Moon. They found it contains mineralogical evidence that it formed at incredibly high temperatures (in excess of 2300 °C/ 4300 °F) that can only be achieved by the melting of the outer layer of a planet in a large impact event. In the rock, the researchers discovered the former presence of cubic zirconia, a mineral phase often used as a substitute for diamond in jewellery.

The phase would only form in rocks heated to above 2300 °C, and though it has since reverted to a more stable phase (the mineral known as baddeleyite), the crystal retains distinctive evidence of a high-temperature structure. An interactive image of the complex crystal used in the study can be seen here using the .
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Fireball

Meteor fireball seen streaking across the sky in Natchez, Mississippi

Ben Hillyer
The Natchez Democrat
Tue, 12 May 2020 11:33 UTC
FIREBALL
For one Natchez resident, a late-night trip out of his house turned into an otherworldly experience when he spotted a bright orange fireball streak across the sky.

"It scared the heck out of me," Alex Sandel said Monday morning. "It was bright orange, red and spinning."

Living near Merit Health Natchez, Sandel said he has stepped outside to watch a helicopter take off from the hospital's helipad Sunday evening at approximately 10:15 when he was startled by the fireball streaking across the sky.

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Cassiopaea

Stargazer captures intriguing meteor fireball explosion over Oregon

Carrie J.. Bronstein
WebbyFeed
Fri, 08 May 2020 14:29 UTC
Fireball over OR
© Wade Earl
An amateur stargazer was lucky enough to spot the exact moment a fireball hit the sky, discharging a fantastic bright aura. Wade Earl from Oregon captured a meteorite explosion during the Lyrid meteor shower.

The image, taken on April 21, 2020, was sent to the IMO (the International Meteor Organization) and AMS (the American Meteor Society) displays the meteor seemingly shattering twice as it reaches the atmosphere, meaning that Earl captured a double bursting fireball. In the image, we can spot the "W" of Cassiopeia lying to the lower right of the fireball.

Various space objects, such as comets or asteroids, produce a bright explosion of fore when they reach the sky. Air flows into cracks and pores of the rock, dragging apart and causing it to burst. Fireballs, on the other hand, are meteors that might be brighter than anything else ever seen.

Meteorite Explosion Lit Up the Sky over Oregon

Due to their speed at which they touch the Earth's atmosphere, fragments bigger than one millimeter can produce a bright light as they streak through the sky. These bright meteors are also dubbed fireballs, and they sometimes strike awe or fear for those who spot them.
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Meteor

Woman spots 'ball of fire' streaking across sky over her garden in Liverpool, UK

Lee Grimsditch
Liverpool Echo
Thu, 07 May 2020 14:15 UTC
Fireball over Liverpool
© Lottie Blake
A woman was startled to see a "ball of fire" streaking across the sky over her back garden.

Lottie Blake, 30, had just finished having dinner with her sister, yesterday evening, when she went into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

However, as she was putting the kettle on she said she noticed something out of the window overlooking her back garden.

Lottie, from Whiston, told the Echo : "It was yesterday evening at about 8.00pm.

"We had just had our dinner so I went to the kitchen to make everyone a cuppa when I saw something out of the window.

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Fireball 5

Video captures exploding meteor fireball over Washington state

Scott Sistek
13WHAM-TV
Thu, 07 May 2020 07:39 UTC
Puget Sound meteor
© YouTube/Bioluminous Commercial Photography (screen capture)
An apparent exploding meteor made for an incredible sight... and sound across parts of the Puget Sound region in Washington state Wednesday evening.

Several reports into the American Meteor Society indicated a brilliant white and colorful object streaked across the skies around 7 p.m. or so, culminating in a flash and then after a few minutes' delay, a massive explosion.

"Huge boom that shook the house," reported one witness in Brier. "It was the loudest boom I've ever heard."

A video from Scott Story with Bioluminous.com shows the streak as seen from a home surveillance camera, followed by the explosion about three minutes later:


Comment: Just over one week ago another meteor fireball was spotted across several Washington State counties with boom-like sounds reported.

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Comet 2

New Comet C/2020 J1 (SONEAR)

Ernesto Guido & Adriano Valvasori
Remanzacco Blogspot
Thu, 07 May 2020 19:20 UTC
CBET 4769 & MPEC 2020-J37, issued on 2020, May 04, announce the discovery of a comet (magnitude ~17) on images taken with a 0.28-m f/2.2 astrograph of the "Southern Observatory for Near Earth Research" (SONEAR) at Oliveira, Brazil, on May 1 . The new comet has been designated C/2020 J1 (SONEAR).

We performed follow-up measurements of this object while it was still on the PCCP webpage.

Stacking of 8 unfiltered exposures, 90 seconds each, obtained remotely on 2020, May 04.3 from X02 (Telescope Live, Chile) through a 0.6-m f/6.5 astrograph + CCD, shows that this object is a comet with a compact coma about 5" in diameter.

Our confirmation image (click here for a bigger version)
Comet C/2020 J1 SONEAR
© Remanzacco Blogspot
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Fireball 2

Truly spectacular meteor fireball breaks apart over northern Spain and Portugal

Inigo Monzon
International Business Times
Wed, 06 May 2020 16:34 UTC
fireball
Residents of Portugal spotted a bright fiery object streaking across the sky over the country. Based on reports by eyewitnesses, it seems a small asteroid entered Earth's atmosphere and turned into a meteor fireball over Portugal.

Details of the incident were reported by the American Meteor Society (AMS). According to the organization, the fireball incident was spotted by eyewitnesses from the states of Lisboa and Setubal.

According to the eyewitness reports, the fireball event occurred on April 28 at 4:47 a.m. UT or around 12:47 a.m. EDT. The reports indicated that the fireball had a magnitude or general brightness that ranged from -6 to -17, which means it was much brighter than the planet Venus when viewed from Earth.


Comment: It was also seen from northern Spain:



Not one week later, this meteor fireball was caught on camera above Spain's Costa del Sol.

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Fireball

Meteor fireball caught on camera above Spain's Costa del Sol

Laura Taylor
euroweeklynews.com
Wed, 06 May 2020 16:06 UTC
fireball
The phenomenon occurred when a rock from an asteroid entered the Earth's atmosphere and could be seen from Andalucia, Extremadura and Castilla la-Mancha.

Detectors from the SMART project, part of the astronomical observatories in Huelva, Sevilla and La Hita (Toledo) have registered the passage of a fireball over Spain at 82,000 kilometres per hour, which has been seen from Andalucia, Extremadura and Castilla-La Mancha .

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