Source - Space Weather News for April 23, 2012: http://spaceweather.com
SIERRA FIREBALL DECODED: An explosion over California that rattled homes
across at least two states on Sunday, April 22nd, has been analyzed by
NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office: It was a natural meteoroid the
size of a mini-van. Analysts say the space rock exploded in the
atmosphere with an energy equal to nearly 4 kilotons of TNT and might
have sprayed the Sierra Nevada mountains with meteorites. Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information.
AURORA WATCH: At the time this alert is being written on April 23rd, a
minor geomagnetic storm is underway. The storm is likely due to Earth's
passage through the wake of a CME that swept past our planet earlier in
the day. Sign up for aurora alerts at http://spaceweathertext.com (text) or http://spaceweatherphone.com (voice).
Showing posts with label meteoroid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label meteoroid. Show all posts
Monday, April 23, 2012
Monday, February 16, 2009
Weekend Fireballs
Source - Space Weather News for Feb. 16, 2009: http://spaceweather.com
WEEKEND FIREBALLS: A daylight fireball over Texas on Sunday, Feb. 15th, triggered widespread reports that debris from a recent satellite collision was falling to Earth. Those reports were premature. Researchers have studied video of the event and concluded that the object was more likely a natural meteoroid about one meter wide traveling more than 20 km/s--much faster than orbital debris. Meteoroids hit Earth every day, and the Texas fireball was apparently one of them.
There's more: On Friday, Feb. 13th, people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky. This occurred scant hours after another fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon lit up the sky over Italy. Although it is tempting to attribute these events to debris from the Feb. 10th collision of the Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 satellites, the Kentucky and Italy fireballs also seem to be meteoroids, not manmade objects. Italian scientists are studying the ground track of their fireball, which was recorded by multiple cameras, and they will soon begin to hunt for meteorites.
Videos, eye-witness reports and more information about these events may be found at http://spaceweather.com.
WEEKEND FIREBALLS: A daylight fireball over Texas on Sunday, Feb. 15th, triggered widespread reports that debris from a recent satellite collision was falling to Earth. Those reports were premature. Researchers have studied video of the event and concluded that the object was more likely a natural meteoroid about one meter wide traveling more than 20 km/s--much faster than orbital debris. Meteoroids hit Earth every day, and the Texas fireball was apparently one of them.
There's more: On Friday, Feb. 13th, people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky. This occurred scant hours after another fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon lit up the sky over Italy. Although it is tempting to attribute these events to debris from the Feb. 10th collision of the Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 satellites, the Kentucky and Italy fireballs also seem to be meteoroids, not manmade objects. Italian scientists are studying the ground track of their fireball, which was recorded by multiple cameras, and they will soon begin to hunt for meteorites.
Videos, eye-witness reports and more information about these events may be found at http://spaceweather.com.
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