Fireballs
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Target practise? Asteroid LV3 will be 35th asteroid this year to flyby Earth at 1 lunar distance

Asteroid 2018 LV3
Asteroid 2018 LV3
A newly discovered asteroid designated 2018 LV3 will flyby Earth at a distance of 0.86 LD / 0.00219 AU (327 619 km / 203 573 miles) on June 15, 2018. This is the 35th known asteroid to flyby Earth within 1 lunar distance since the start of the year.

This near-Earth object has an estimated diameter between 13 and 30 m (42 - 98 feet) and it belongs to the Apollo group of asteroids. It was discovered at Pan-STARRS 2, Haleakala on June 11, 4 days before its close approach.

Comment: From close calls to those actually blazing into our atmosphere, space rock activity is on the increase:


Question

Space rock? Mystery 'explosion' and 'flash' leaves residents baffled in Ruthin, North Wales

Ruthin
© Robert Parry-JonesRuthin
Residents have been left baffled by a loud "explosion" heard in the early hours of this morning.

Homeowners in Ruthin were jolted from their sleep by the noise that was heard as far away as Haulfryn and Rhewl.

Some took to social media in a bid to find out what it was with others reporting seeing a "flash" and hearing the police helicopter overhead shortly afterwards.

In a local forum called Fans of the old Ruthin Blog, one person wrote at 12.55am: "Did anyone hear that explosion? Is everyone OK?"

Meteor

Loud boom heard, felt in northern Arkansas and south central Missouri (Update)

West Plains, NO sign
© KY3
Did you hear it Wednesday? That loud boom. So loud in fact that people in northern Arkansas and south central Missouri heard it and were all asking the same question around noon Wednesday. What was that boom?

"It was just a loud boom," Richard Harrell said.

"I thought it kind of sounded like a bomb," Sadie Hutchinson added.

"It felt like somebody actually ran into the building," Michael Romero told KY3.

Dispatchers at West Plains Police Department were busy for nearly two hours taking calls from all over West Plains and the surrounding area, with folks asking, what was that sound?

Comment: Update: On June 8, 2018, KTTS reported that more booms were being reported across the Ozarks:
People in Rogersville and Ava tell KTTS News they heard a noise rattle windows and ceiling tiles just before noon today. A similar sound was reported last night around midnight by someone in Ava.

The booms were first reported to the National Weather Service on Wednesday. It's still unclear what's causing it.

Meteorologists have speculated that it could be anything from a sonic boom from a military plane to a meteorite.
On the same date, KY3 in Missouri reports that the booms were heard in Marshfield, Good Hope, Cabool, Houston, Oldfield, and Seymour around midday Friday.


Fireball 2

Asteroid might have impacted Earth over South Africa on Saturday

Astronomers found the asteroid - now labeled ZLAF9B2 - Saturday morning, hours before closest approach. Trajectory models, observer reports and a video all suggest it struck Earth's atmosphere over South Africa on Saturday.
Asteroid ZLAF9B2
© Richard KowalskiAsteroid ZLAF9B2
A small asteroid discovered on Saturday morning, June 2, 2018, surprised astronomers when its trajectory suggested it would pass very, very close to Earth just hours after being detected. The object has been given the temporary designation of ZLAF9B2. There are reports of sightings of a bright meteor, as well as a video that may be related to the event, from Barend Swanepoel in South Africa. He reports the video (see below) as being:
... taken near my dad's farm between Ottosdal and Hartbeesfontein.
Another witness in South Africa described the meteor as very bright, and showing a yellow color.

This space rock had an estimated size of only 10-16 feet (3 to 5 meters) in diameter. If it struck (and sometimes they do, and meteorite pieces are found), it was too small to cause serious damages. In contrast, the impressive meteor seen over Chelyabinsk, Russia, in February, 2013 was an estimated 60 feet wide (20 meters). It broke windows in six Russian cities and caused more than 1,500 people to seek medical attention, mostly due to injuries from flying glass. The June 2 asteroid wasn't big enough to do anything like that, but it was big enough to produce a spectacular, very bright meteor.


Fireball 5

Fireball captured blazing across China - Sonic boom reported, possibility of meteorites

fireball china june 1 2018
YouTube channel 'Exoss Citizen Science' reports a fireball sighting today in China:
A HUGE fireball (meteor) appeared over Jinghong city, China yesterday, June 1 (13:40 UT)! Sonic booms were reported, indicating the fireball likely penetrated lower than 30 km and quite possibly dropped meteorites!

Video: Xiao Jia Gong Gong via @Exos Citizen Science
Local Chinese news outlets report that the phenomenon was seen from Simao, that it was very bright, lasted about 2 seconds and was accompanied by two loud noises - presumably sonic booms. One Mr. Zhou from Dongfeng, Jinghong, heard the noise from inside his home.

Fireball 2

Meteor fireball over the Mediterranean Sea

meteor
This meteor event was recorded over the Mediterranean Sea on 23 May 2018 at 1:37 local time (23:37 universal time on 22 May).

The event was produced by a fragment from an asteroid that hit the atmosphere at about 90000 km/h. The fireball began at an altitude of around 89 km over the sea, and ended at a height of about 19 km.

The analysis of its atmospheric path shows that this was a meteorite-producing event. The meteorite would have fallen into the sea.

The event was recorded by the meteor observing stations operated by the SMART Project (University of Huelva) from the astronomical observatories of Calar Alto, La Sagra, La Hita and Sevilla.


Meteor

Space rock? Loud house-shaking boom heard in southern California

San Diego mystery boom
© Fox5
A loud boom was heard around San Diego Wednesday afternoon.

A Carmel Valley resident sent a tweet at 12:26 p.m. asking if the noise was a sonic boom. Another person said their house rattled around the same time.
Felt it over here in Carmel Valley, too quick for an earthquake? Sonic boom?

- R Dub (@r_dub_1) May 16, 2018
FOX 5 reached out to local military bases to find out if they were involved in making the noise.

Fireball 2

Meteor fireball seen in skies above Fredericksburg, Virginia

fireball
Witnesses described seeing a fireball, similar to this stock photo, on May 15.
Fredericksburg-area residents reported that an object from outer space tore through the sky Tuesday, just before midnight, leaving in its wake a sonic boom heard by residents from Culpeper to Colonial Beach.

The meteor was "the brightest and most amazing fireball I've ever seen, in person or in any videos," wrote Chase K. of Dahlgren in his report to the American Meteor Society. The night sky appeared like a giant lightning strike and it was almost as bright as daylight when the primarily red and orange fireball was seen, he said.

He didn't notice any sound, but an observer who identified himself as William G. of Colonial Beach wrote in his report to the society that there was a loud boom and "ground shake similar to a military artillery round."

Meteor

Fireball? Unexplained boom, flash of light recorded on Ohio home security camera

Flash of light and boom in OH
© YouTube/hooeetube
Don't even try telling Anderson Township resident Kimberly Kempke that the "boom" noise people are hearing around her community is nothing more than fireworks.

Anyone suggesting this obviously hasn't really heard the noise being referenced by people on her two Facebook groups - Watchful Eyes in Anderson and Watchful Eyes of Mt. Washington, she said.

The sounds are "true booms. They sound like a powerful explosion," Kempke said.

"It's unlike anything I've ever seen or felt before. And I've been very up close with the WEBN Fireworks many times," she added.


Fireball 5

Meteor fireball captured in Tucson, Arizona sky

Fireball over Tucson, AZ
© Eliot Herman
A fireball was captured in the Tucson AZ sky at 12:50 am using two cameras, a Nikon D810 with a 8 mm fisheye with 15 second long exposures and a Starlight Xpress Oculus all sky meteor camera with 30 second long exposures. The fireball left a smoke trail that persisted for a few minutes also shown.