Fireballs
© E. Guido, N. Howes and M. Nicolini/Remanzacco Observatory
Asteroid 2013 XY8 imaged on 2013, December 10, 2013.
A newly-discovered asteroid about the size of a space shuttle will fly past Earth on December 11, 2013 at a very safe distance of 760,000 kilometers (470,000 miles). The closest approach of
Asteroid 2013 XY8 will be 11:14 UT, and its size is estimated between 31 - 68 meters. This asteroid is zipping along at about 14 kilometers per second, and of course at about 2 lunar distances away, there is no danger of this asteroid hitting Earth.
The asteroid was discovered on Dec. 7 by the team at the Catalina Sky Survey, and our friends Ernesto Guido, Nick Howes and Martino Nicolini from the Remanzacco Observatory have provided a follow-up image of the asteroid, taken just this morning shown above.
6WJACFri, 06 Dec 2013 14:34 UTC
An unexplained blast Thursday has local residents concerned and shaken up. The shock waves were felt within about a 12-mile radius in the Morrison's Cove area of Martinsburg. Police said they got reports from all over the area asking what caused what people are describing as a blast. There are no reports of any injuries or damage, but there is still no explanation for the blast and police said they've ruled out fracking.
© CTV News Channel
Meteor may have lit up the night sky - Astronomers search for answers after sonic boom.
It's now confirmed: the loud boom and flash of light many people spotted Tuesday evening from Montreal as far west as Ottawa was a meteor entering the earth's atmosphere. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario said the rock from space passed over Montreal at around 8 p.m. from north to south. They were able to confirm the phenomenon by sounds from shock waves picked up by acoustic ground sensors around Montreal and upper New York state. NASA's Meteor Environment Office had been searching for footage of a meteor captured by its cameras, but cameras were obscured by thick clouds.
Geologist Richard Herd, a retired curator of the National Meteorite Collection for the federal government, said all indications suggested it was a meteoroid. That's a rock from space that passes through the Earth's atmosphere.
"It came in very rapidly...and so that's indicative. There was some ballistic shock from this thing, which is typical even of a small object," Herd said.
Comment: News coverage of the event, courtesy of Global Toronto:
CBC.caThu, 05 Dec 2013 16:51 UTC
Earlier this week, CBC acquired some photos of what appeared to be a fireball or meteor above Yellowknife.
Mathieu Brouillard took the photos Monday morning at about 10 a.m. He says he and other onlookers watched what appeared to be a fireball make its way along the horizon and fade away.
"Once I took some pictures then it really got their attention because you were able to see them on the camera how it's not a plane, it's definitely a rock of some sort just engulfed in flames," he said. "A really big, big rock engulfed in flames. Definitely hot."
CBC showed the photos to experts on meteors.
Alan Hildebrand is an associate professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Calgary and the co-ordinator of Canada's fireball reporting centre.
Comment: Hang on a second; on the one hand this 'expert' tells us this was not a fireball, but then he states that the small remote town of Yellowknife "could witness several fireballs every year"?!
What's it gonna be?! Talk about double-speak!
We're siding with the people on this one - it was probably yet another fireball.
Viewers called and emailed 9NEWS to report seeing a bright and colorful light in the sky Wednesday night.
Many said they saw the streak of light around 9pm and described it as moving slower than most shooting stars.
They also described colors of green, orange and yellow associated with the light. 9NEWS received reports from Denver, Aurora, Greeley and other locations in the state.
An astronomy and physics professor with Metropolitan State University, Dr. Kamran Sahami, said the green color suggests a meteorite made up of rock, possibly a metal such as nickel.
9NEWS has not confirmed the exact source of the light.
Carlsbad - Did your house shake on Sunday afternoon? You weren't alone. The cause of the loud boom and ground tremors felt and heard citywide on Sunday remains a mystery.
Theories about everything from oil rig explosions to shotgun blasts have been proposed, but city and county officials say they have no explanation as to what rattled windows and frightened animals just before 5 p.m. Sunday.
Many assumed the noise was the result of a sonic boom by military aircraft flying out of Holloman Air Force Base, but the base wasn't conducting any flights that day, said Holloman's Elah Murray.
"We stopped night flying on the 22nd of November," Murray said.
Tacy Farmer said that she was sitting in the living room of her home on North Lake Street Sunday when she and her daughter felt the boom resonate through the house.
"We all kind of paused and looked at each other, wondering 'did you feel that'," Farmer said.
"The whole house trembled and the windows shook," she said.
Residents across the city felt a similar phenomenon.
Comment: For the probable answer, look no further than the
Fire in the Sky section of SOTT.net.
The cause of a boom--a pretty darn loud BOOM--heard Saturday night at least as far west as Sand Creek, and at least as far east as Westville, remains unknown.
One Chesterton Tribune reader reported that the boom, sounding like a "loud explosion," occurred around 10 p.m. and "rumbled houses for five seconds." A Duneland firefighter, meanwhile, reported that it also activated car alarms.
Tom Shapen, assistant chief of the Liberty Township Volunteer Fire Department, met Westville Fire Chief Sean Jacks at the scene--to the extent that there was any scene at all. Together, Shapen told the Tribune, he and Jacks conducted a search of their two jurisdictions but were unable to find any sign of an explosion or any indication of what the boom might have been or what might have caused it.
"It remains undetermined," Shapen said.
Porter County Sheriff's Police officers also responded, Sheriff Dave Lain said, and similarly turned up nothing. "No damage, no isolation even of where exactly it occurred."
Lain's best guess: "Some sort of a firework." If so, a very loud one.
Comment: SOTT.net's best guess: yet another overhead meteor explosion.
Simon Ward
BBC NewsSun, 01 Dec 2013 12:30 UTC
Lawrence Parkin from Jacksdale, Nottinghamshire said he was woken in the night by a tile falling from his roof.
In the morning he found large chunks of rock scattered around his front garden.
Experts at Nottingham University said he had possibly been hit by the remains of an iron rich meteorite. The pieces are now being sent to a London museum for further verification.
Local officials, police and fire are investigating reports of percussion, tremors and booms in Old Mystic.
According to First Selectman Ed Haberek, there is no evidence or cause as of yet, he said. Homeland Security has been notified, he said. Haberek said He hopes to have more information within the next hour.
Facebook reports and messages to Stonington Patch indicate people on the Stonington side of Old Mystic had their houses rocked, heard large boom sounds and felt as if perhaps there was an explosion nearby. Police and fire have not determined any cause as of yet. Check back with Patch later for details.
The stars aligned for some lucky Fraser Coast sky watchers on Wednesday evening.
Dozens of people reported seeing what was believed to be a meteorite crossing the sky about 8pm.
Cassandra Perry was among those who caught a glimpse and shared her experience on the Fraser Coast Chronicle's Facebook page.
"Yes, I saw a light moving fast through the sky, so I ran outside and saw it was a meteor," she said.
"I could see it burning up, looked like it had a tail similar to what fireworks looks like, an awesome sight."
Commenter Sally Mackay said she saw it with her daughter as they were leaving a school awards night.
Comment: Interestingly enough, for the past several days there have been other cases of "unexplained blasts" and "strange explosions". Connection? We definitely think so.
'Massive explosion' in North San Diego county still a mystery
Big explosion in Jackson, Indiana 'a mystery'
Loud explosions rock houses in Connecticut, authorities haven't a clue what caused them