Fireballs
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Comet 2

Incoming star Gliese 710 could spawn swarms of comets when it passes our Sun

George Dvorsky
Gizmodo
Thu, 22 Dec 2016 13:32 UTC
Gliese 710
© ESOArtist’s impression of Gliese 710, a sun-like star that will travel through our Solar System’s Oort Cloud in about 1.3 million years.
For years, scientists have known that Gliese 710 will come excruciatingly close to our Solar System in about a million years. An updated analysis suggests this star will come considerably closer than we thought, during which time it's expected to spawn dangerous cometary swarms.

Gliese 710 is currently 64 light-years from Earth, but for all intents and purposes, it's heading straight for us. A new study published in the journal Astronomy and Physics projects the close encounter will happen about 1.35 million years from now, and that the star will come within 13,365 AU of our sun (where 1 AU is equal to the average distance of the Earth to the sun), or 1.2 trillion miles. At that distance, it would take light 77 days to reach the Earth.

That's obviously far, but not in cosmological terms. That distance is well within the Solar System's Oort Cloud—a large bubble of ice and rock that surrounds the sun to a distance as far as 50,000 to 200,000 AU. So while Gliese 710 is sure to avoid a direct hit with any object in the inner Solar System, it'll likely travel through the Oort Cloud. And with its tremendous gravitational influence (it's about 60 percent the size of our sun), it'll perturb the many large rocks currently sitting idle way out there in the outer reaches. This star is poised to send a shower of comets into the inner Solar System, possibly causing a serious impact event with Earth.
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Fireball 2

Three meteor fireballs recorded over France in three days


Sott.net
Mon, 19 Dec 2016 07:20 UTC
meteor fireball over France 17.12.16
© YouTube/OGVT - Observatoire géophysique, Val Terbi (screen capture)
On 17th December 2016 a sporadic meteor was recorded over France by the private geophysical observatory at Montsevelier, Val Terbi in Switzerland.

Sporadic meteors are usually considered as random occurrences not associated with any particular meteor shower, such as the Geminids which have been observed this month.

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Fireball 2

Large meteor fireball illuminates the sky over Colombia


Strange Sounds
Sat, 17 Dec 2016 20:34 UTC
This bright green fireball exploded several times in the sky of Colombia and Venezuela on December 16, 2016.
This bright green fireball exploded several times in the sky of Colombia and Venezuela on December 16, 2016.
A large exploding fireball illuminated the night sky of Colombia on December 16, 2016.

The Geminid bolide struck the skies over the municipalities of Bucaramanga, Girón and Zapatoca of the department of Santander and the municipality of Yopal of the department of Casanare. A similar sighting was reported from the Venezuelan state of Apure.


Numerous users of social networks have reported how a ball of fire ran through the skies of Colombia on Friday night.

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Fireball 3

Fireball spotted over Swiss skies

OGVT
Twitter
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 21:16 UTC
A meteor was filmed above Montsevelier from Val Terbi in Switzerland. Specialists can take a look at the spectrum of the meteor that was captured by the dedicated camera. A spectrum can be used to determine the composition of a material.
meteore and spectre Montsevelier
The meteor above Montsevelier.
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Fireball 2

SOTT Exclusive: Four Fireballs Streak Across Irish Sky


Sott.net
Tue, 13 Dec 2016 21:57 UTC
On Tuesday, December 13th 2016, Sharon Owens, a resident of Bodyke, Co.Clare, Ireland, reported seeing not one but four fireballs streak across the morning sky.

Not long after sunrise, Ms. Owens spotted the first of four very bright meteors from a window of her home. Speaking to Sott.net, Mrs. Owens stated:
"I was actually pulling the curtains in the morning at the windows at the back of my sitting room and saw [the first fireball] between the trees. I then got my phone camera and ran outside with my daughter and stood at the side of the garden taking photos. I was able to get a clearer picture from there so was sure what I was seeing.

I've watched enough videos about meteors/fireballs, so I knew what these were. I was excited to see one, but then to see 3 more straight after was amazing. They came in one after the other. They were white and had a brighter front. The end of the tails were sort of wiggly and breaking up. They were going really fast and I heard a bang, but only from one of them."
Below are two images of the fireballs photographed by Ms. Owens.
Fireball over ireland sharon owens
© Sharon OwensOne of 4 fireballs seen over Bodyke, Ireland this morning
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Fireball 4

Huge meteor fireball illuminates night sky over Spain (VIDEOS)


RT
Mon, 12 Dec 2016 21:24 UTC
meteor fireball over Spain
© videoslavoz / YouTube
A huge fireball hurled across the night sky in Spain at an approximate speed of 72,000 kilometers per hour. It was visible in all parts of the country and is believed to be a piece of an asteroid.

The fireball was first spotted by Spanish scientists at 22:25 local time on Sunday as it passed over the southern regions of Andalucia, Granada and Jaen.

The object was described as a part of an asteroid to El Pais by Jose Maria Madiedo, an astrophysicist of the University of Huelva.

It was "considerable in size" so that "it could survive its passage through the Earth's atmosphere," Madiedo told Europa Press.


Comment: NASA space data supports citizens' observations that - meteor fireball activity is increasing dramatically!

statistics meteorites fireball
© AMS
For more about fireballs over Spain see Jose Maria Madiedos' Twitter profile, or Youtube, or page about fireballs and meteors.

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Fireball 5

Meteor fireball photographed hurtling towards ground in Wraysbury, UK

Ryan Gray
The Royal Borough Observer
Sun, 11 Dec 2016 17:47 UTC
Meteor over Wraysbury, UK
© Windsor Observer
Two young eagle-eyed sisters from Wraysbury were on hand to catch an astronomically rare photograph of a meteor hurtling towards the ground last weekend.

Phoebe, 12, and Jasmine Hale, 13, from Douglas Lane, spotted the burning space rock from a bedroom window in their house before running outside to the Wraysbury carp fishing lake behind their house to capture it on camera.

The girls' mother, Jamie Hale, said the sisters thought it might have been something else at first. She said: "Phoebe was looking out of her bedroom window at the back of the house and she could see something with flames falling from the sky.

"At first she thought it was a plane going down! "She ran down to the bank of the lake with Jasmine and Jasmine took her phone and took the photo.

"They said it was falling really fast and they watched it until it went out of sight. "They realised, when watching it, that it was a small meteor."
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Fireball 3

Massive meteor fireball explodes several times off the coast of Norway


Strange Sounds
Sat, 10 Dec 2016 13:08 UTC
Fireball Norway
The fireball that exploded off Norway
A huge greenish fireball exploded several times off Norway on December 6, 2016 sparking fears among residents from both western and eastern Norway.

The meteor, 50 times brighter than a full moon, turned the night sky into day at 5:15am. Many people were awaken by loud booms.

5:15 am, December 6, 2016, the sky off Norway suddenly lit up. A huge fireball exploded over the Norwegian Sea, southwest of Sogn og Fjordane. Reports of the glowing blue sky were reported as far south as Kristiansand.

Calculated path of the huge fireball that exploded off Norway on December 6, 2016.
© The Norway Meteor Network Calculated path of the huge fireball that exploded off Norway on December 6, 2016.
A camera from the Norvegian Meteor Network, situated in Olso some 500km away, captured the powerful sky event:


This next video was shot from Bergen, Norway:


Comment:

statistics meteorites fireball
© AMS


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Fireball 2

Another fireball explodes over Siberian city


RT
Tue, 06 Dec 2016 16:44 UTC
siberian meteor fireball
© The Siberian Times
People in the Republic of Khakassia in southwest Siberia witnessed a large fireball exploding in the sky on Tuesday, which briefly made the evening as bright as the day. Some even managed to catch the event on camera.


Reports of the rare occurrence came from practically the whole of Khakassia, as well as from the neighboring Krasnoyarsk Region, local news website xakac.info reports.
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Fireball 3

Blazing fireball sighting over Scotland was probably meteor

Rod Edgar
DNG24
Sun, 04 Dec 2016 19:46 UTC
Meteor fireball (stock)
© Ikonacolor/Getty Images (file photo)
A sighting of a fireball blazing its way across the sky near Annan has prompted more reports

An appeal by the UK Meteor Observation Network (UKMON) for sightings at about 5.15 pm last Wednesday prompted an account from someone driving from Eaglesfield to Annan.

Adding to the reports, Helen Carruthers said: "I saw a very bright white light for a few seconds as I was walking the dog in Ecclefechan on Wednesday at the time stated, and it travelled from left to right, then just disappeared."

Ed Woodman has also added his own account of the sighting. He said: "At approximately 5.15 pm I was approaching the the Tesco roundabout from Eastriggs when I noticed a light object with a faint trail behind it, shooting across the sky from east to west "It was moving at tremendous speed and initially I thought it was a low flying fighter jet. "But then, as it suddenly flared bright white, it disappeared."

Mark Toner from Dumfries Astronomy Society says November was a busy month for meteor sightings. Addressing the local sightings, Mark said: "If it was west to east I'd say they'd seen the International Space Station. "But the fact it's going east to west — there's very few things that do that in the evening like that and then disappear, because they're heading towards the sun."

Comment:
statistics meteorites fireball
© AMS


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