Fireballs

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Mysterious 'fireball' streaks across Oregon sky, leaves cops scratching their heads

RT
Mon, 25 Nov 2019 17:08 UTC

Photos of what looks like a fireball falling in Polk County, Oregon, has sparked a frantic search amid reports of a plane crash. Nothing was found, however and police now believe it was a meteor. Netizens have their own ideas.

It all started on Thursday evening, when the Polk County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call alerting them about a possible plane crash in the area southwest of Polk County. The caller then sent a couple of photos that show what resembles a white streak an airplane might leave behind when going down.

Police rushed to locate the site of the reported crash, sending a helicopter to scan the wooded area in the hope of recovering some wreckage. However, the extensive search has turned up nothing, leaving police dumbfounded over what actually just whizzed above the rural area.

Comment: See the local news interview with Richard Romano here.

The American Meteor Society received two reports of fireballs over Portland, Oregon and Friday Harbor, Washington on the same day.

'Boom!' Sonoma Valley, California residents look to skies for answer following nocturnal noises

Christian Kallen
Sonoma Index-Tribune
Fri, 22 Nov 2019 00:13 UTC

© Press Democrat (file photo)
An amateur astronomer sets up his home-made 18" Newton Reflector during the monthly public viewing night at the Ferguson Observatory in Sugarloaf Park. Though there were few reported meteors on the night of Nov. 21, many people heard distant sonic booms with no known source.

People all over Sonoma County looked up at about 7:40 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 21, when a brief series of "booms" rolled across the valleys. But there was no glow in the sky, the stars were visible in the cloudless sky. Was it thunder?

Or was it a meteor?

It may be no coincidence that the sound corresponded to a large but infrequent meteor shower, known as the Unicorn (or Monocerotids, from the constellation of its visible origin), seen only every 25 years or so - and last reported in 1995. But meteors are usually silent apparitions, fleeting and ghostly.

In social media groups, many people dialoged about the Thursday night noises. Descriptions of the noises ranged from "rumbles like thunder" to "like a limb fell on the house."

And it didn't seem to be particularly localized, but strong throughout the Sonoma Valley, in Nextdoor neighborhoods from Temelec to Denmark Street. Similar social media networks reported the noises at about the same time in Healdsburg, 25 miles away. Others on Facebook said it was heard in Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, Cloverdale, Petaluma, Napa and Marin.

Meteor fireball videoed over Lake Mendota, Wisconsin

Madison
Sun, 24 Nov 2019 18:48 UTC

Did you see it?

A Sunday morning tweet from NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the UW-Madison showing a meteor flashing over Lake Mendota drew a host of "oohs" and "ahhhs".

Meteor fireball lights up night sky over northern New England

Michael Page
necn.com
Sat, 23 Nov 2019 11:37 UTC

Fireball streaks across New England sky

People around Greater Boston, down to Connecticut, and up into Northern New England spotted a streak of light cross the sky during the Friday evening commute.

It's what's called a "fireball."

When objects enter Earth's atmosphere, they encounter intense heat and burn up. That process creates the streak of light seen in the sky, as seen in the photo above.

While unusual, these are spotted around New England from time to time.

Impact crater in Australia happened far more recently

Mike McRae
Science Alert
Fri, 22 Nov 2019 22:45 UTC

In the state of Western Australia sits the famous Wolfe Creek crater, the aftermath of a 14,000-tonne meteorite crashing into Earth thousands of years ago. A new study now claims the impact happened far more recently than we suspected, prompting a rethink on how often giant space rocks actually strike our planet.

A team of researchers from universities in Australia and the US took a close look at several features of the crater's underlying rock to get a precise measurement on the age of Wolfe Creek's most famous landmark.

Previous estimates have stated the crater could be 300,000 years old, but the new result places it much closer to our time, perhaps as little as 120,000 years ago. And knowing this is not just a geological curiosity, either.

As far as neat-looking craters go, they don't tend to be much bigger. With little rain to wear away the walls of the impact site, Wolfe Creek crater has been remarkably well preserved throughout the ages. But the site also stands out for the fact it is the second largest crater on Earth to still have fragments of the offending space rock.

There's no doubt the shrapnel of far bigger blasts exist out there somewhere, but with ocean and ice covering so much of our planet's surface, and wind and rain eating away at the geology, evidence is hard to come by.

Meteor fireball lights up sky in Costa Del Sol, Spain

Dilip Kuner
EuroWeekly News
Wed, 20 Nov 2019 19:21 UTC

Star gazers had a treat in the early hours of today (November 20) as a slow ball of fire graced the sky above the Costa del Sol in Spain.

The impressive sight was a rock from a comet that entered the Earth's atmosphere at a speed of about 47,000 kilometres per hour at 3.48 am.

The event began at an altitude of about 81 km off the coast of Malaga. From there the fireball advanced in a northeasterly direction. It was finally extinguished at an altitude of 38 km above sea level, at a point about 78 km off the coast of Malaga and 83 km off the coast of Morocco, after a trajectory of 81 km in the atmosphere.

Comment: Another fireball was seen over Spain five days before and was filmed by the SMART project:

Kilkenny, Ireland early risers spot giant meteor fireball in the frosty sky

Colin Bartley
Kilkenny Now
Mon, 18 Nov 2019 14:44 UTC

A giant fireball was spotted streaking over Kilkenny's frosty sky early this morning.

Some reports are saying it was a meteorite, while some claim it landed in neighbouring Carlow.

At 5.20am this morning, the flashing fireball was seen by those up early for work, or those out for an early morning run. The huge fireball illuminated the frosty and foggy sky as it shot over.

A spokesperson for Astronomy Ireland confirmed the sighting but are now seeking the public's help for more information about the sighting.

Another fireball this morning over Ireland, about 5.20am. Did any of you see it?

Fireballs occur when tiny meteor enter and then burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. The last reported meteor to land in Carlow was found in Leighlinbridge in 1999.

Leonid meteor shower light up night sky with spectacular shooting stars

RT
Sun, 17 Nov 2019 15:16 UTC

One of the most famous annual meteor displays, the Leonid shower, is peaking this weekend and even though this year's show could be a downer, stargazers will still be treated to occasional spectacular fireballs and shooting stars.

The Leonid is expected to be best visible in the early hours of the morning on Monday, between 2am and 4am.

Asteroid the size of the Great Pyramid could hit Earth in 2022

Sputnik News
Sat, 16 Nov 2019 22:45 UTC

Scientists from the American space agency claim that asteroids the size of a football field collide with our planet every 2000 years, with another giant rock now heading towards the Earth.

NASA just announced when a giant asteroid, known as JF1, would hit Earth if it continues on its current trajectory - and it's not too far from now.

The American space agency predicted that a 128-meter-long space rock - the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt - could collide with our planet on 6 May 2022, potentially causing devastating consequences by wiping out an entire city just in seconds and causing millions of deaths.

As JF1 is believed to strike the Earth with a power of 230 kilotons of TNT - 15 times higher than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima that was equivalent in energy to 15 kilotons of TNT.

Adapt 2030 Ice Age Report: This cycle is going to be different

Adapt 2030
Thu, 14 Nov 2019 20:46 UTC

With heavier more powerful cycles at our door step we as a society need to have conversations on global food security. We as a species have even forgotten major celestial events as recently as 200 years with the meteor shower of 1833 in SE USA and the Carrington event that aurora were seen in South America. Now this year unprecedented blizzards, Arctic freezes cover the N. Hemisphere and the coldest temperature ever recorded in October in the N. Hemisphere in Utah. Changes have begun.