Fireballs
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Fireball 5

Man videos 'meteorite strike' in Cairns, Australia; loud explosion heard

Chris Calcino
The Cairns Post
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 12:14 UTC
Video taken by a local resident at the site shows a large area of burnt trees and a deep hole in the ground (pictured)
Video taken by a local resident at the site shows a large area of burnt trees and a deep hole in the ground (pictured)
The city's "big bang" mystery continues to deepen with residents split on whether it was caused by a meteorite, gas bottle explosion, electrical transformer failure or sonic boom.

Beginning with the latter theory, a single FA-18 Hornet was heard flying loudly over Cairns on Sunday night, with a Department of Defence spokesman confirming it landed at Cairns Airport while carrying out a training exercise from RAAF Base Townsville.

But no jets were operating late on Saturday night when a god-almighty "explosion" was heard across the city.

As for the gas bottle theory — the most popular on social media — emergency services had no report of any such activity despite speculation it was the product of juvenile delinquents running rampant at Jensen St in Manoora.

The Cairns Post was called by an anonymous man trying to sell CCTV footage he swore showed a jolt of light shooting up a power pole and causing the ensuing aftershock.

Ergon Energy had no record of any issues.

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Comet 2

Comet 01-ASAS-SN brightens unexpectedly

Signe Dean
Science Alert
Mon, 09 Oct 2017 17:10 UTC
C/2017 O1 ASAS-SN
© ASAS-SN/Twitter
There are countless chunks of icy debris swirling around the Oort cloud on the outskirts of the Solar System. But it's always exciting when one of those comes in our direction for a rare flyby.

In July, astronomers discovered a brand new comet zooming through the inner regions of our space bubble. Since that time it's been steadily getting brighter, and now is about the best time to finally catch a glimpse of it in the night sky.

The comet C/2017 O1 ASAS-SN was first detected on 19 July by the All-Sky Automated Survey for Supernovae, the same system that brought us new discoveries about the mysterious Tabby's star, massive space explosions, and stars shredded by black holes.

Now, for the first time, the survey has discovered a comet which Northern Hemisphere stargazers can readily spot in the sky with the help of a backyard telescope or even just binoculars.

Comet O1 ASAS-SN is a long-period comet, and it probably takes at least several thousand years to cruise around the Sun and come back - so being able to spot it right now is a wonderful treat.
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Fireball 2

Bolide streaks over western France


Sott.net
Sat, 07 Oct 2017 06:51 UTC
Bolide captured over western France
© Tioga Gulon, Boam Meteore, AstroChinonBolide captured over western France on October 5, 2017.
A very bright meteor fireball, known as a bolide, steaked over the night sky of Indre-et-Loire in western France on October 5, 2017 reports REFORME (Réseau Français d'ObseRvation de Météores).

The bolide, which was as bright as the full moon, was recorded by REFORME's all-sky camera..
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Fireball

South Carolina home hit by meteorite

Carla Field
WYFF NBC
Fri, 06 Oct 2017 10:23 UTC
Meteorite
© Melanie Casselman
Clemson astrophysicists have visually confirmed that an unusual rock that hit a Pawley Island home and ended up in a yard is meteorite from outer space.

"I looked at my house and my windows, and everything looked fine, so I just walked right on by," Casselman said. "I didn't even pick it up."

The next day, Casselman's partner, Dennis Suszko, found a strange piece of rock in the front yard, and she remembered seeing a similar rock in the side yard.

"These were odd-looking rocks," Casselman said. "It wasn't like anything around it, and I jokingly said, 'We must've had a meteor shower last night.'"

As they looked for more pieces of rock, they noticed a chunk of shingles missing from the eaves of their roof.

"We're not positive, but we believe that's where the meteorite first struck before landing in the yard," Casselman said.
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Meteor

Meteor fireball seen in sky before fire breaks out in New Hampshire mountains

Ray Brewer
WMUR
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 09:19 UTC
New Hampshire fire
© Notch HostelThis photo from Tuesday night, Oct. 3, 2017, shows the fire burning on the Dilly Cliffs near Woodstock.
A major forest fire continued to burn Wednesday morning in the White Mountains.

The fire has been burning for more than 24 hours near Lost River Gorge in Woodstock.

The fire was first reported about 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Woodstock's fire chief said the night before, a man said he was driving in the area when he spotted a meteor streaking across the sky.

Officials are not sure if the meteor, which is referred to as a meteorite if it reaches the ground and survives the impact, caused the fire. They said they have found no evidence of a meteorite, but they said it is considered a possible cause.

Comment: See also: Did a meteorite cause a brush fire in New Hampshire?

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Fireball 2

Did a meteorite cause a brush fire in New Hampshire?


boston.cbslocal.com
Wed, 04 Oct 2017 19:33 UTC
The blaze near Lost River Gorge seen overnight.
© Jack Varin/Real World New HampshireThe blaze near Lost River Gorge seen overnight.
Investigators and fire officials in New Hampshire are looking into the possibility that a meteor may have started a brush fire that has currently burned through about 25 acres in the White Mountains.

Crews were working to contain the fire in the Lost River Gorge area Wednesday, and said that it was still spreading. A driver first called it in around 6:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Mackay told WBZ-TV a man walking through the area Wednesday told them he saw something - possibly a meteor - hit the side of the mountain while he was driving by the night before.

"He swears that something come out of the sky and hit the side of the mountain where the fire is," Chief Mackay said. "We can't confirm it or deny it, we just took his word. We don't know if that is the cause."

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Fireball 2

Three meteor fireballs explode in the night sky over China

Tracy You
Daily Mail
Thu, 05 Oct 2017 11:16 UTC
Fast and powerful: The fireball apparently overpowered the brightness of the full moon as it travelled across the sky over Yunnan Province, south-west China, at a great speed
Fast and powerful: The fireball apparently overpowered the brightness of the full moon as it travelled across the sky over Yunnan Province, south-west China, at a great speed
Residents observing the full moon in China yesterday were stunned to see three meteorites exploding in the night sky.

The giant fireballs were said to flash across the sky over Shangri-La County in Yunnan Province, south-west China.

An eyewitness told MailOnline that two of the meteorites were small and one was large. Together, they lit up the sky for around five seconds.

Various clips on the Chinese social media, including one posted by Sina, show one meteorite turning into a great ball of fire as it quickly moved across the sky.

A worker at the Desti Youth Park Hostel in Shangri-La said he and many guests at the hostel saw the burning rocks last night at around 8pm.

The worker said they were sitting in the backyard of the hostel observing the full moon to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, a traditional festival in China symbolised by the round, full moon.

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Fireball

NASA captures meteor fireball over Arizona, sonic boom picked up by seismometer

NASA Meteor Watch
Facebook
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 17:12 UTC
Fireball over Tucson, AZ
© NASA Meteor Watch
Our all sky cameras at Kitt Peak National Observatory, Mount Lemmon Observatory, and the MMT Observatory captured footage of a brilliant fireball that occurred over southern Arizona at 8:32 PM Mountain Daylight Time on September 23rd (2017 September 24 03:27 UTC).

The meteor originated 49 miles above the desert southwest of Tucson, Arizona. It travelled at about 29,300 miles per hour for 12 seconds, passing almost directly over the Tortolita suburb of Tucson, before disrupting 20 miles above the desert approximately 8 miles north of the town of Oracle, Arizona.

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Comet 2

Death from the clouds - Toxic Comets


Malaga bay
Tue, 26 Sep 2017 03:48 UTC
Cumulus Congestus
© Flickr/Kevin Dooley
Although molecular Nitrogen represents 78.09% of the air we breath this doesn't mean all substances containing Nitrogen are nice and nurturing.

In reality Nitrogen is a very curious substance that can also be very nasty.

The combination of Nitrogen and Carbon in the form of Cyanogen is very toxic.
Cyanogen is the chemical compound with the formula (CN)2.

It is a colorless, toxic gas with a pungent odor.
cyanogen
© Malaga Bay
Like other cyanides, cyanogen is very toxic, as it readily undergoes reduction to cyanide, which poisons the cytochrome c oxidase complex, thus interrupting the mitochondrial electron transfer chain.
...
Inhalation of 900 ppm over a period of 10 minutes is considered lethal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanogen
Comet Composition
© Wikipedia
Comets are very toxic because they produce cyanogen.
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Info

Meteorite impacts may have created Earth's tectonic plates

Andrew Masterson
Cosmos Magazine
Mon, 25 Sep 2017 16:38 UTC
Meteorites hitting the early Earth
© Mark Stevenson/UIGAn artist’s impression of meteorites hitting the early Earth.
Meteorite impacts might have kick-started the Earth's tectonic plates and boosted the planet's magnetic field, according to a study from Australia's Macquarie University.

The research, led by Craig O'Neil from the university's Planetary Research Centre, and published in the journal Nature Geoscience, offers a scenario to illuminate what happened during the first 500 million years of the Earth's existence - a period known as the Hadean, or, more poetically, the geologic dark ages.

To date, the question of whether the young planet featured moving tectonic plates has been moot, primarily because almost nothing of its early crust remains.

Some scientists have proposed that grains of zircon, dating to before 4.1 billion years ago, are evidence of early, active tectonics. Others, however, are more convinced by geochemical data indicating that in its formative years the Earth was encased in a motionless "lid", with moving tectonic plates emerging later.

Tectonic plates were until recently thought to be unique to Earth, at least within the solar system. However, research by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2012, using satellite imagery, established that Mars also experiences plate movement, although on a smaller scale.
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