Fireball spotted over Okayama, Japan, possibly part of the Lyrids.
April 28, 2016 - JAPAN - On April 22, 2016 at about 11:25 pm, there was a fireball of Lyra meteor shower.
The fireball had an absolute magnitude of -5.5, as calculated by Ueda of Osakan.
The actual path length was 330.5 km., entering the atmosphere
approximately 80.8 km over the border over the Kitsuki vanishing point
at km 141.2.
It was majestic, as it was flying over 7.1 seconds between
Oita Prefecture Bungotakada and Hyogo Prefecture Sayo-cho. You can see
that was a brilliant meteor from Okayama Prefecture.
April 27, 2016 - CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES - Southern California residents took to social media after a streak of
green light was seen falling from the sky Tuesday night.
A news
photographer's dashcam captured the streak as it fell over the downtown
Los Angeles area around 10 p.m.
Dr. Edwin C. Krupp, astronomer and director of Griffith Observatory,
said it was not clear what the streak was exactly.
Krupp said based on
the description, the phenomenon is a fairly common occurrence where
material from outer space heats up, like a meteor.
He said it also could be debris from a previous launch.
NBC4 viewers called into the station from San Bernardino County and beyond to report seeing the curious ball of light.
So did anyone else see something flay across the #sky in #LA? Looked like a burning comet or something on fire. @abc7#Machester area.
The Lyrids consist of dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which takes about 415 years to orbit the sun.
They are considered the oldest known meteor shower and have been observed from earth for 2,600 years.
The meteor shower takes it name from the constellation Lyra, the point in the sky from which they all seem to radiate.
Some of the shooting stars are very bright and are indeed known as
'Lyrid fireballs', casting shadows for a split second and leaving a
smoky debris trail that can be visible for several minutes.
What's the best way to see them?
Spotting shooting stars is always better when the sky is very dark, as
with the Virginids earlier in April. But as the video above from Tim
Lloyd shows, it's still possible to see something.
At midnight, the Lyrids appear 32 degrees above the eastern horizon from
Birmingham. All of the meteors will appear to be coming from this
point, known as the radiant.
The best place to look to see as many meteors as possible is not at the
radiant itself but at any dark patch of sky which is around 90 degrees
from it, where they will typically appear at their brightest.
It's best to get away from cities where light pollution will add its own
glow to the sky and make it more difficult to see celestial objects.
The Clent Hills and Lickey Hills near Birmingham would make good places
to go.
According to astronomers at In-The-Sky.org, you could see up to 10 meteors per hour.
However, the moon will be 16 days old at the time of peak activity and
adding quite a glow to the night sky - because it's getting brighter as
we move towards full moon (April 22), this could limit what we can see.
No special equipment is needed. But allow 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark.
Remember to be patient - bring a reclining chair or a blanket so you can lie back and look up without straining your neck.
As with all celestial events, viewing conditions depend on the weather.
Cloud cover will obscure the display, so check the forecast before
heading out.
An object that
authorities suggest might have sparked a Bowie brush fire Sunday. Bowie Volunteer Fire Department via Twitter
April 25, 2016 - MARYLAND, UNITED STATES - Authorities suspect a meteorite strike may have sparked a massive
brush fire that scorched the woods behind a Prince George’s County condo
community Sunday evening.
The woods behind Scarlett Oak Terrace, located just off Maryland
Route 450, went up in flames after 5 p.m.
Bowie Volunteer Fire Department via Twitter
It took firefighters with the
Bowie Volunteer Fire Department several hours to bring the flames under
control.
Later,
firefighters discovered a hunk of what appears to be meteorite lying at
the bottom of a cratered patch of earth, surrounded by the splintered
and charred remains of tree limbs. - CBS.
April 25, 2016 - SPACE - Eight new asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth were
spotted by NASA’s asteroid-hunter among 439 other objects rotating
around our planet, according to a report newly released by the space
agency.
NASA’s Near-Earth Object Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) telescope, which made a comeback in 2013 after going into hibernation mode in 2011, has come up with a second year’s worth of survey data on Earth’s surroundings that was published in a report by NASA.
WATCH: Two years of NEOWISE asteroid data.
“Eight of the objects discovered in the past year have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids (PHAs), based on their size and how closely their orbits approach Earth,” the report goes.
In what NASA described as a “milestone” mission, the telescope, which is tasked with detecting, tracking, and characterizing asteroids and comets, detected a total of 439 NEOs (near-Earth objects) in 2015, of which 72 were newly discovered.
“NEOWISE discovers large, dark, near-Earth objects, complementing our network of ground-based telescopes operating at visible-light wavelengths. On average, these objects are many hundreds of meters across,” said Amy Mainzer, NEOWISE’s principal investigator.
The NEOWISE’s 16-inch (40-cm) telescope and infrared cameras snapped as many as 5.1 million shots over the past year. It has processed information on more than 19,000 asteroids and comets, including four new ones. The data obtained by the mission also looks into the origins of the discovered objects.
“By studying the distribution of lighter- and darker-colored material, NEOWISE data give us a better understanding of the origins of the NEOs, originating from either different parts of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or the icier comet populations,” said James Bauer, the mission’s deputy principal investigator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
NEOWISE initially started as WISE, which was launched in December of 2009 to scan the celestial sky with infrared waves. That mission, which cost $320 million, took over 2.7 million photos and catalogued more than 747 million space objects before the telescope went to sleep in February of 2011.
Fireball over Saudi Arabia. YouTube/faheem291 (screen capture)
April 24, 2016 - SPACE - The
following constitutes several of the latest reports of fireballs, seen
in the skies, across the globe.
Bright green meteor fireball explodes over Saudi Arabia
That's nothing special! Just a bunch of kids playing football under the
light of an incredibly bright bolide that exploded over northern Saudi
Arabia, April 3, 2016.
Do you have more information about this sighting? Imagine the loud boom in the sky! Woah! Source: via VK
WATCH: Fireball over Saudi Arabia.
Giant fireball 'ten times brighter than the moon' turns night into day in this spectacular footage
Scientists caught the natural phenomenon that was caused by a piece
of meteorite breaking off from a comet and hitting the Earth's
atmosphere
Spanish scientists have captured the moment a fireball said to be ten times brighter than the moon hurtled through the sky.
The natural phenomenon was registered by the La Hita Observatory in Toledo in the early hours of this morning.
The incredible sight was caused by a 30kg meteorite, which had broken off from a comet, hitting the Earth's atmosphere.
The spectacle could also reportedly be seen in southern and eastern
Spain, including the regions of Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Murcia and
Andalusia.
Jose Maria Mateido, a professor at the University of Huelva in
south-western Spain, explained that the fireball gave out the
extraordinarily bright light when it hit the Earth's atmosphere at
around 56,000 mph.
He said: "This amazing fireball turned the night into day for a fraction of a second."
The fireball is just one in a series of similar spectacles which have been gracing the night sky in the last few months.
Mr Mateido analyses these meteorites as an astrophysicist for Spain's
Spectroscopy of Meteoroids in the Atmosphere by means of Robotic
Technologies (SMART) project, which is a collaboration between Spanish
observatories.
Meteorite lands on farm in Nigeria
Vanguard
About 10:45 am on March 12, farmers and hunters in Tse-Agena area of
Mbatyula in Takum local government area of Taraba State heard a loud
sound from the sky and then an object, suspected to be meteorite stone,
landed.
The landing of the white object created panic.
Women and children were asked to vacate the farms immediately while men went to pick the object.
Mr. Shausu Agena, a farmer and an eye witness, said the object landed on a big tree in an empty farm land.
Agena, while speaking to Sunday Vanguard inside his hut in the village, said heavy sound accompanied the falling of the object from the sky.
The clan head of Mbatyula, Zaki Bem Tom, also disclosed that the object
landed with a sound that was heard in several communities.
"It was in the morning. People were in their various farms when the
object landed within our community. It was very shocking because some of
us that witnessed it descending from the sky thought it was the end of
the world," Ben Tom said.
"It took our brave men to go closer to the object so that we will know
what it was. Initially when the object landed, it was pure white in
color. Human faces were reflecting on the object like mirror. Then it
turned pure black.
"We have been living in fear because we don't know what will follow".
The village head said the community reported the incident to the
state government immediately and the Director of Minerals Resources was
sent to Mbatyla.
"Before the official came, we had already removed the stone for
safe-keeping and the person who kept the stone was not around when the
Director visited.
Therefore, the Director could not see the stone.
"We are calling on government to commission a study of our area
following the incident because we may be affected one day by nature".
When contacted, Taraba State Commissioner for the Environment, Mrs.
Rebecca Manasseh, pleaded with the community to release the stone to the
state government so that it could study it.
Rebecca, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard on phone, confirmed that the state
sent its Director of Mineral Resources to the area after the incident
was report to ascertain the nature of the 'mystery stone'.
She promised that her ministry was ready to investigate the issue as soon as the stone was released to the state government.
Blue-green fireball disintegrates over Ukraine and Crimea
What is this mysterious blue-green light crossing the sky of Kherson, Ukraine on April 11, 2016?
Two dashcam cameras recorded the amazing sky event at approximately 9:34 pm Moscow time, so 7:34 pm (UTC).
Has anybody witnessed it?
The Lyrid meteor shower hasn't started yet, but the sky is already producing awesome natural fireworks.
A blue-green fireball (turquoise in the video description) was filmed by
two dashcam cameras flying in the sky of Crimea and Kherson on April
11, 2016 7:34 pm (UTC).
Is this really a fireball? Most probably although it could have
been mistaken for a space junk reentry or a missile due to the long
duration of the disintegration process. But no reentries took place, the
next one being scheduled for April 15, 2016.
WATCH: Fireball over Ukraine and Crimea.
Bright green meteor fireball spotted over Kentucky, Illinois
Initial Meteor Reports:
15APR2016 Tiffany Binkley Calvert City, Ky 2230 3-5 N-W green; moon, no I
was driving and there were trees all around me, but it looked huge.
15APR2016 Bryan Schaumburg, IL, USA 22:16 PM Central Only seen the last
second or two of the burn E-W travel Stopped South West of Roselle Rd,
facing SW Greenish White in color, no sound high beam headlight
brightness, too dark to see any fragmentation. 7It was already moving
fairly slowly when I seen it, and fairly close to the ground, probably
below 500 ft. Too short of viewing time for any better guesses or info.
15APR2016 Andrew Rukavina Mundelein, IL USA approx 2215 hour 15 seconds
from east to west i was driving south multi colored and very large
between the Moon and Venus - very bright and large not sure it was
large...it was not a reflection. I pulled over which i never do except
once when I saw an amazing display of northern lights it was the biggest
thing i've ever seen....I was heading southbound at intersection of 137
and 60 in Mundelein, IL. I had just made the turn onto 60 from 137 and
was headed south, so no light pollution to create any illusions... I'm a
59 year old attorney... was not drinking or anything else...it flamed
out shortly before it went over the cornfield.
15APR2016 Steve Wilson Rock Island,IL,USA 22:16 in Central Time Zone 3-4
seconds Facing South, I saw a bright white light with a tinge of blue
streak from East to West. As bright as Venus on a clear night I'm not
sure of fragmentation, but it reminded me of a sparkler as opposed to a
single, solid point of light.
15APR2016 Anna St.Charles, IL, USA 22:14 5-10? East to West traveling
burst of light/looked like fire. I was driving South on Kautz Rd, near
DuPage Airport. A bright ball, looked like fire; it had a tail of blue
behind it. I'm not sure I don't think so, maybe behind it. It really
looked like it was on fire. I wondered if it was a piece from a plane I
was driving, so no photo, Sorry. I know it was something, not sure what.
It was not high in the sky, it came across my vision field from left to
right (from East to West) as I was driving South. It was cool, but also
a little scary. I wondered if it was part of a plane since we were
adjacent to DuPage Airport.
15APR2016 Victoriano Berwyn, IL - 2200 5-10secs East to West facing South, green xeon bright fragment trail, green fireball.
WATCH: Fireball spotted over Kentucky, Illinois.
Enormous meteor fireball seen across US Midwest
A meteor streaked across the St. Louis area on Friday at about 10:16pm.
We received many reports from viewers about the shooting star.
Sightings of the streak of greenish-blue light were reported in four
states, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee.
Two of our web cameras caught a great view of the meteor, Eckert's in
Belleville, IL, and Mattress Direct in South St. Louis County . In the
Belleville view, you'll see the green object streak across the screen
followed by a spider walking across the camera lens.
We are in the midst of the Lyrid meteor shower, which is active each
year in mid to late April. In 2016, the peak of this shower is expected
on the morning of April 22, so there could be more shooting stars.
Huge bright meteor fireball lights up sky over Hampshire, England
UK Meteor Network releases incredible pictures of a space object dramatically burning up in Earth's atmosphere
The UK Meteor Network has recorded incredible pictures of a "fireball" lighting up the skies over Hampshire.
Stargazers took advantage of the clear weather to snap the meteor from four different locations at about 2am last night.
The group's camera network recorded black and white images of the
astonishing fireball, which would have made a dramatic sight on a dark
night.
It shone with an "intense" light which may even been bright enough to cast a shadow.
The astronomical group posted several pictures of the fireball to its Twitter account .
Peter Campbell-Burns, a volunteer with the Meteor Network, told The Mirror that it was unusual to see such a bright meteor.
"We're catching meteors every single night, but it's rare we see one as bright as this," he said.
"It's a fairly exceptional event which generally happens once every two or three years."This
massive fireball was visible from the Network's outposts in Church
Crookham, Clanfield and Basingstoke, which are all in Hampshire. It was
also spotted from the Norman Lockyer Observatory in Sidmouth, Devon.
The meteor-spotters recently published images of a blue and green meteor which coincided with St. Patrick's Day on March 17 and shone as bright as a full moon.
It is believed the unusual spectacle was caused by magnesium in the meteor.
"It's quiet rare to see one meteor this bright," Campbell-Burns added.
"To get two in the space of about a month is even more unusual."
April 18, 2016 - EARTH - Hawkkey Davis is back with another documentary of extreme weather, earth
changes, and meteor fireball events from around the world for
March/April 2016.
This series does not mean to suggest that the world is
ending, but that what is happening across the world is leading to
bigger 'Earth changes'.
If you're following the series, then you're seeing the signs. It's much more than one video; check out previous installments here.
April 8, 2016 - EARTH - Record heavy spring snowfalls, destructive tornado outbreaks, planes
falling out of the sky, catastrophic flooding on every continent,
metallic 'sky sounds' heard in diverse locations, multiple meteor
fireball sightings, mass animal deaths, sinkholes swallowing moving
vehicles...
These were just some of the signs of the times in March
2016...
April 6, 2016 - SPACE - NASA’s asteroid hunting spacecraft, NEOWISE, has made 72 new
discoveries of near-Earth objects since it re-started its mission in
December 2013.
The Near-Earth Object
Wide-field Survey Explorer (NEOWISE) has characterized a total of 439
near-Earth objects (NEOs) including asteroids and comets over the
two-year period, according to the latest survey data release. Most of
these had been identified previously.
Eight of those discovered in
the past year have been classified as potentially hazardous asteroids
based on their size and proximity to Earth.
The survey uses
infrared to detect and characterize the NEOs and has measured more than
19,000 asteroids and comets at infrared wavelengths. "By
studying the distribution of lighter and darker-colored material,
NEOWISE data gives us a better understanding of the origins of the NEOs,
originating from either different parts of the main asteroid belt
between Mars and Jupiter or the icier comet populations," said James Bauer, the mission’s deputy principal investigator at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The
spacecraft was originally launched in December 2009 under the name
Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) but was placed in hibernation
in 2011 after its primary mission was completed.
It was
relaunched at the end of 2013 with a new name (NEOWISE) and a new
mission - to assist NASA's efforts to identify the population of
potentially hazardous near-Earth objects.
April 5, 2016 - NEW ZEALAND - A meteor lighting up the sky above New Zealand has been seen by star
gazers from across the country.On Tuesday night Weatherwatch.co.nz
reported it had received dozens of reports of a meteor in the hour from
9pm.
Those who'd sent in reports described the meteor as being green with a
white tail and said it appeared to be close to the Earth.They said it
was spotted just after 9pm, and was travelling from east to
west.Sightings came from Titahi Bay in Wellington - a resident in
Pikarere StrD said it was "big, bright, turquoise coloured".
Sarah from Whanganui wrote that she had seen what looked like a bright
green, large meteor. "Never seen anything like this, ever." A Manawatu
resident said: "It was gorgeous. I've seen shooting stars before high
up in the sky, but this was a granddaddy one."
In Mt Roskill, Auckland, it was mistaken for fireworks. "But this thing
was no fireworks, the green cluster of light, was the size of a basket
ball, heading horizontally on a downward slope across the sky." - Dominion Post.
April 2, 2016 - NORTH AMERICA - A bright, white meteor-fireball was spotted over British Columbia and Washington State on April 1, 2016. Here are some of the initial eye-witness reports:
Kachur - Surrey, BC. 21:10pm. Lasted for 3 seconds. Was facing south came down from the
left to right. No sound, extremely bright white, with red flames as it
burnt. It seemed bright as the sun for a split second, then turned white/blue
color then red ball. It was close like over White Rock area. No photo.
Andrew Port - Coquitlam BC, Canada. 21:00pm. Lasted for 10
seconds? Still burning when it left my view. Was moving from northeast to southwest. There was a white/yellow flame
bang that followed 30 seconds or so later. It was very bright and low and
burning like a giant rocket.
Julia Coates - Marysville WA USA. 20:50pm. Lasted for 3 seconds. Was moving east/west.
It changed from white to blue to red. Was brighter than the moon but not as bright as the
sun. It was the first fireball I have ever seen. It was so beautiful.
Ian Pocock - Chemainus, BC, Canada. 20:45pm. Lasted for about 2 seconds.
Start southeast and faded from view south-southeast. There was a pale flare,followed by brief green color. No sound was heard. It was about three times brighter than planet Venus. The brief flare continued as it the atmosphere. It was very interesting.
Sherri Osoyoos - BC. Close to 20:40pm. Last for about four seconds. Was moving southeast to northwest. It was a very fast and white fireball. Just noticed a very bright big ball of white flying over
the sky, it didn't seem too high up.
Exploding meteor fireball brightens night sky in Albacete, Spain
This bright exploding meteor turned the night sky into day for a
fraction of a second on 31 March 2016. The fireball was filmed over
Spain at 2:36am UTC (4:36am local time).
The event was produced by the impact of a cometary fragment with the atmosphere at a velocity of about 90.000 km/h.
The impacting rock got ten times brighter than the moon.
The fireball was recorded by cameras placed at the observatory of La
Hita in Toledo, when the fireball flew across the sky of the province of
Albacete. It has also been reported by skywatchers in Madrid,
Castilla-La Mancha, Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia.
March 31, 2016 - SPACE - The
following constitutes several of the latest reports of fireballs, seen
in the skies, across the globe.
Disintegrating fireballs explode over Manitoba, Canada and Catalonia, Spain
Two bright fireballs were recorded in Canada and Spain end of March
2016.The Spanish bolide slowly disintegrated in the sky of Aragón and
Catalonia on March 24th, 2016 at 0h47m20s UTC. The Canadian space rock
was captured flying through the night sky of Churchill, Manitoba.
Awesome!
This wonderful slow-moving fireball overflew Aragón and Catalonia on
March 24th, 2016 at 0h47m20s UTC and was recorded by cameras at the Folgueroles AAO-CSIC-IEEC station (Pep Pujols/J.M.Trigo).
WATCH: The fireball experienced periodic changes in its luminosity due to the fast spinning of the meteoroid when it penetrated Earth's atmosphere.
Fireball filmed in the sky of Churchill, Manitoba, Canada on March 26, 2016.
WATCH: There is no comment on the video. But the video of this exploding fireball is awesome.
Did you hear any booms or weird noises related to these two sky events?
People have been coming up with possible explanations including a
meteorite, plane entrails or a strange cloud. It was seen from all over
North Devon including in Combe Martin and Braunton.
Gudrun said: "I live in Woolacombe and popped my head out the door to
have a look at the post-sunset sky about 8pm. I watched it for about 20
minutes as it moved down the sky and changed shape."
Do you think you know what the object might be? If so get in touch by emailing fran@northdevonjournal.co.uk - North Devon Journal.
Rare meteorite fragments discovered from March fireball in Stubenberg, Germany
Experts from Munster said they are 'delighted' to
recover several fragments identified as being of the 'LL
Chondritenklasse' (LL chondrite) class of meteorite - mostly stone with
very little metal inside. This image shows how the meteorite looks under
the polarising microscope
Scientists have discovered fragments from an extremely rare meteorite strike that took place above Germany earlier this month.
Experts from Munster said they are 'delighted' to recover several
fragments identified as being of the 'LL Chondritenklasse' (LL
chondrite) class of meteorite - mostly stone with very little metal
inside.
The latest fragments, which struck the earth in the municipality of
Stubenberg in Bavaria, are already being studied excitedly by experts,
who anticipate more fragments will still turn up.
The fireball was spotted over Bavaria on 6 March.
The fireball was spotted over Bavaria on 6 March (pictured)
Meteorite
expert Professor Dr Addi Bischoff from the Institute for Planetary
Studies at the University of Munster (WWU) said: 'Alert sky watchers
spotted the meteorites burning into the atmosphere on 6 March.
'By analysing images of the entry, we were able to locate the impact
point and find fragments on the ground, in total weighing 40g.
'What we have found so far from studying the fragments indicates
that the main body of the meteorite had been struck several times by
other celestial objects.
'The fragment that came into our atmosphere had probably broken off from
the main body of the meteorite after one of these collisions.
'The main body of the asteroid is one of hundreds of thousands of asteroids travelling on a route between Mars and Jupiter.'
Although hundreds of meteorites come into the Earth's atmosphere to
create shooting stars, most of these burn up before they get anywhere
near the ground.
Very occasionally, however, meteorites make it all the way to the ground.
By analysing images of the entry, researchers were
able to locate the impact point and find fragments on the ground, in
total weighing 40g (pictured centre)
In Germany, experts say a meteorite actually strikes the ground only
once every eight years or so, with the last time happening at
Braunschweig - also known as Brunswick - in 2013 and before that at
Neuschwanstein in 2002.
Dr Bischoff said strikes were extremely rare in Germany and added: 'In
the last seven years, there has been one striking the ground on average
every eight years.'
And he added that none of these were spectacular as the one which struck
Chelyabinsk in Russia in 2013 that left hundreds of people injured with
its explosive impact.
It is likely that the fragment may also be worth a substantial amount of money.
Earlier this week it was announced that a collection of some of the
largest chunks of meteorite to have been found on the Earth to go on
sale at auction for an estimated £3.4 million.
Among the 83 space rocks is the only meteoroid that has killed and a
chunk of the fireball which tore through the skies over the Russian city
of Chelyabinsk in 2013, hospitalising 112 people.
Some of the scorched chunks of iron and stone look primeval in their
appearance while others have an almost jewel-like beauty despite their
fiery descent through the atmosphere. - Daily Mail.
March 31, 2016 - EARTH - Sea life washing up dead - Earth opening up to swallow rivers and
vehicles - Record rainfall in Peru, flooding in Rio de Janeiro - Loud
booms of unknown origin shaking homes - Strongest earthquake so far in
2016 hits Indonesia - Meteors lighting up the night sky - Yet another
'1-in-1,000-years' rain event flooding central and southern US - Heavy
snow in Mexico - A year's worth of rain in one day flooding Persian Gulf
states...
This series does not mean the world is ending! These are videos showing a
series of extreme weather events that are leading to bigger Earth
Changes. If you're following the series, you're seeing the signs. It's
much more than one video...
Likely an asteroid or comet, the object was pulled into the thick atmosphere of the largest planet in our solar system. Gerrit Kernbauer
March 29, 2016 - SPACE - A backyard astronomer in
Austria captured a cool cosmic event on Jupiter: a strike by some
natural space debris, either an asteroid or a comet.
It's not surprising
that such things happen, as Jupiter is the largest and most massive
planet and acts as a sort of shepherd of small solar system bodies.
But
the timing was just right for Gerrit Kernbauer to capture the event.
The
object was projected to be relatively small, but due to Jupiter's
gravitational influence, it quickly reached high velocity, kicking up
plumes of debris as it smashed into the clouds.
The explosion had a
force of 12,500,000 tons of TNT.
According to Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy, collisions like this happen once per year on average. Perhaps the most notable occurrence was in 1994, when the Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet
slammed into Jupiter, an event captured by ground-based astronomers and
NASA's Galileo probe, then just months from entering orbit around
Jupiter.
With a new NASA probe, Juno, ready to enter orbit later this
year, we might get to catch a fiery show like this again. - Popular Mechania.
March 29, 2016 - FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - The American Meteor Society said this morning that dozens of people are
reporting to have spotted a bluish or green fireball over South Florida
at about 6:30.
More than 40 reports were made to the AMS from people who claim to have witnessed the event from Kendall to Jupiter. Nine reports came from people in Palm Beach County.
Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, said it was a random fireball and not part of a known meteor shower.
"Lots of folks are talking about it," Hankey said. "It only happened three hours ago, so not much information yet."
A report from a West Palm Beach man says the fireball cut a long trail across the sky.
"Train was glowing an iridescent or almost neon blue with white edges,"
the man reported. "Looked like it was 300-500 yards behind the fireball
itself but was still attached to the head of the fireball."
Hankey was part of a team of people who recently found six pieces of
galactic rock in North Florida after a sighting earlier this year.
Estimated trajectory of this morning’s fireball based on witness reports.
Hankey is hoping that someone has gotten the event on a surveillance camera. He says the average report time was 6:38 a.m.
@JoshJamesMusic yep. blue-green. I'm in PBC. was low in the sky south of me
— Gregg Steward (@eggstew) March 29, 2016
@amsmeteors @SteveWeagleWPTV it was glowing green with a long tail
and large. It did not appear very high in the sky. Streaking west to
east
— Bob Esposito (@Bob_Espo) March 29, 2016
Bright Fireball over FL 6:38am this morning - Report your sighting
here: https://t.co/UUwFVLMEOf pic.twitter.com/GFA9jviax9
— AMSMETEORS (@amsmeteors) March 29, 2016
Listeners are telling us they saw a meteorite across Jupiter/Palm Beach Gardens! Anyone else see? @1055online #MoSallyTA
— Mo & Sally Show (@MoAndSallyShow) March 29, 2016
Fireball captured earlier this year by a dashboard cam in North Florida.
March 26, 2016 - SPACE - A gigantic comet which was making the third closest flyby of
Earth in history has been captured by NASA radars. The space body
appears to look like “a brick on one side and a pear on the other,” the
scientists said.
The stargazers were observing the comet P/2016 BA14 which was about 1 kilometer in diameter on March 22.
“The comet was about 3.5 million kilometers away, making it the third closest comet flyby in recorded history,” NASA said.
WATCH: Flyby comet imaged by radar.
The scientists said they used the Goldstone Solar System Radar in California's Mojave Desert to follow the space body.
"We were able to obtain very detailed radar images of the comet nucleus over three nights around the time of closest approach," said Shantanu Naidu, a postdoctoral researcher at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
According to researchers, the comet spins “around its axis once every 35 to 40 hours.”
"The radar images show that the comet has an irregular shape: looks like a brick on one side and a pear on the other," Naidu said. "We can see quite a few signatures related to topographic features such as large flat regions, small concavities and ridges on the surface of the nucleus."
The comet turns to be reflecting less than “3 percent of the sunlight that falls on its surface,” according to the data presented by Vishnu Reddy, of the Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona.
“Comet nuclei are as dark as fresh asphalt. However, infrared spectra can often yield clues to the makeup of these primitive denizens of the solar system,” NASA wrote. - RT.
