29 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 29FEB2016

Why Is Russia Pointing Nuclear Missiles at Asteroids?
Motley Fool
15, 2013, when a meteor exploded in the skies high above Chelyabinsk, ... for a last-minute launch to blast an asteroid before it turns into a meteor.

Why Did The Atomic Bomb-Like Meteor That Hit Atlantic Went Unnoticed?
Bitbag
A big meteor hit the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month. NASA has confirmed that on Feb. 6 at 2 pm, a huge meteor as powerful as the nuclear bomb ...

why didn't nasa catch this 2-story-wide meteor entering earth's atmosphere?
InvestmentWatch
WHY DIDN'T NASA CATCH THIS 2-STORY-WIDE METEOR ENTERING EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE? Submitted by IWB, on February 28th, 2016.

Giant meteor explosion over Earth with the power of the first atomic bomb
Blasting News
Although it's regarded as the most significant impact a meteor has insofar had with the Earth since the Chelyabinsk incident in Russia, this event went ...

If a meteor explodes over the Atlantic and no one sees it, did it really happen at all?
The Marshalltown
Everyone remembers the massive meteor explosion over the Siberian city of Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 2013. But the meteor that fell over the Atlantic ...

Un meteorito cinco veces más brillante que la Luna impacta contra España
Equilibrio Informativo
La madrugada del miércoles astrónomos de España registraron la caída de un meteorito en la región de Córdoba. Según consiga un comunicado del ...

March, a month for many minor meteor showers
New Jersey Herald
March has a lot of minor meteor showers but none are any great shakes, ... Remember, meteor showers are better viewed in the early-morning,?

Astro Corner: What's up in the March sky
Globalnews.ca
So we've decided to do a monthly look ahead where you can find out what interesting celestial events — eclipses, meteor showers, planetary ...

Meteor Activity Outlook for Feb 27-March 4, 2016
American Meteor Society
The sporadic rates are also near their annual minimum so there is not much to look forward to this month except for the evening fireballs that seem to ...

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

28 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 28FEB2016

Asteroid news: NASA's update on 2013 TX68
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
Link to article which was updated on Thu 25-Feb-2016 at 14:40 Pacific Time (22:40Z) and was originally posted on Tue 02-Feb-2016. NASA have ...

The asteroid of 'uncertain orbit' that REALLY could smash into Earth, according to NASA
Express.co.uk
At around 33 metres in length it is more than 50 per cent bigger than the 20-metre meteor which suddenly and unexpectedly hurtled at us above ...

Meteor that Fell Over the Atlantic Ocean Was the Most Intense Explosion in 3 Years
End Time Headlines
NASA announced last week that back at the beginning of February, a meteor exploded over the Atlantic Ocean. Turns out, it was one for the record ...

Atlantic meteor
Topix
According to a report from NASA, an exceptionally bright meteor likely exploded over the South Atlantic Ocean earlier this month. The southern Atlantic ...

Meteor Explodes Over Atlantic With The Energy Of Atomic Bomb, And The World Doesn't Even Flinch
MyInforms
If a meteor explodes over the Atlantic and no one sees it, did it really happen at all? Everyone remembers the massive meteor explosion over the ...

779a
American Meteor Society
Observer. Name, Stephen G. Experience Level, 3/5. Remarks, This bolide lit up the surrounding sky in the same fashion as the Bangkok bolide I found ...

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Asteroid news: NASA's update on 2013 TX68

Asteroid news: NASA's update on 2013 TX68
reported by  meteordetective
Link to article which was updated on Thu 25-Feb-2016 at 14:40 Pacific Time (22:40Z) and was originally posted on Tue 02-Feb-2016.

NASA have refined their "earlier flyby and distance predictions, reconfirming that the asteroid poses no threat to Earth."

But, the 'plot' thickens, as NASA has additionally "..identified an extremely remote chance that this small asteroid could impact on Sep. 28, 2017, with odds of no more than 1-in-250-million. Flybys in 2046 and 2097 have an even lower probability of impact."

I thought I'd investigate further and used Telnet to 'talk' to JPL's "Horizons" system.  However, as you can see (from the copy/paste below), there is no close-approach listed for 2017.  To be clear and specific, I instructed Horizons to show me all the known approaches from 01-Jan-2000 to 01-Jan-2200.

        Date (TDB)      Body   CA Dist  MinDist  MaxDist   Vrel  TCA3Sg  Nsigs  P_i/p
----------------------  -----  -------  -------  -------  ------ ------ ------ -------
A.D. 2001 Feb 12.30797  Venus  .075550  .029997  .430225  10.352 95321. 27737. .000000
A.D. 2013 Oct 13.34047  Earth  .013900  .013840  .013959  14.066   0.34 505.63 .000000
A.D. 2016 Mar 08.00436  Earth  .033383  .000207  .115301  15.324 8719.4 463.31 .000000
A.D. 2024 May 21.93046  Mars   .051950  .039661  .181328  15.950 8218.6 83319. .000000
A.D. 2028 Oct 22.29797  Earth  .092654  .010847  .254975  11.643 36290. 37681. .000000

If you access the asteroid's entry in JPL's SBDB, you'll see the following Close-Approach dates & times listed, which barely correspond to the Telnet session results (above).

2016-Mar-08 00:06, 2056-Sep-18 13:29, 2071-Sep-30 14:02, 2074-Feb-17 05:44, 2084-Oct-20 19:33, 2086-Oct-16 07:11, 2089-Feb-07 09:03, 2089-Mar-14 21:35.

Is something out of sync?

I'd initially intended to comment on the wide variance of 2013 TX68's potential close-approach distances (all relative to Earth's surface), which are remarkable and summarised below:

Nominal (the expected or 'should be' distance): 13.06 LD = 3,099,296.455 miles
Minimum: 0.08LD = 15,282.762 miles
Maxium: 45.09LD = 10,714,428.346 miles

(For reference, 1 LD --aka 1 Lunar Distance-- is equivalent to 382,500 kilometers / 239,062.5 miles (NASA)).

The difference between minimum and maximum values is 7,615,132 miles or 8.19% of the distance from Earth to the Sun...or also equivalent to 3,185.42% the distance from Earth to the Moon....which is a rather large value.

To add a further variable in to this situation, MPC have assigned 2013 TX68 a condition code of 8 for  its orbit uncertainty (10=highly uncertain and 0 = "good"), which is due to the fact that 2013 TX68 was only tracked for 3 days when it was initially discovered/observed - before it was 'lost' again.

Let me make myself perfectly clear:  I'm not suggesting 2013 TX68 will hit Earth, inferring it or stirring-up 'fear-porn'.  I'm just a little perplexed by the apparent of confusion --regarding when it will make its close-approaches to Earth-- and mentioning that there's a very wide margin of 'error' between the distances NASA are reporting for its 08-March-2016 close-approach.

Stay tuned!

Write to:
meteordetective AT gmail DOT com.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

27 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 27FEB2016

Daytime fireball seen over Luxembourg, Saarland & Rheinland-Pfalz
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
Just Breaking- Ontario NJ VA DE Fireball Meteor 1820 EST 30JAN2016 ... ONT CT VT WV DE NY MD PA NJ Fireball Meteor 14FEB2... RJ, Brasil ...

Meteor hit Atlantic with 13000 ton TNT force: Detected at 19 miles above ocean
Examiner.com
The largest meteor since the 2013 event in Russia hit the earth this month, coming down in the Atlantic Ocean, reports NASA. They recently published ...

Atlantic meteor: Large meteor hits Earth with nuclear bomb force, some worried
Examiner.com
According to News Max this Friday, February 26, 2016, the power of the large fireball was roughly equivalent to the destructive level of the bomb used ...

Large meteor explodes off the coast of Brazil
Big News Network.com
WASHINGTON -- The largest space rock to penetrate Earth's atmosphere in three years exploded over the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.

Meteor that Fell Over the Atlantic Ocean Was the Most Intense Explosion in 3 Years | The Weather ...
The Weather Channel
NASA announced last week that back at the beginning of February, a meteor exploded over the Atlantic Ocean. Turns out, it was one for the record ..

Atlantic Meteor Blast Big as a Hiroshima Bomb Not Noticed
Newsmax
A meteor exploded over the southern Atlantic Ocean with the power of the Hiroshima bomb in early February – and nobody noticed, according to the ...

Giant meteor hits Earth and nobody noticed?
Examiner.com
The Chelyabinsk meteor, which was undetected prior to its dramatic entrance into the Earth's atmosphere, exploded over Russia in 2013.

Atlantic meteor: Large meteor hits Earth with nuclear bomb force, some worried
MyInforms
The southern Atlantic Ocean was struck by a meteor recently with the force of a nuclear bomb, and yet many people did not even realize that it ...

Handykamera filmt Meteoriten
Yahoo Nachrichten Deutschland
Ein Mann will mit seiner Kamera eigentlich nur den Strand aufnehmen. Als er mit dem Gerät auf den Himmel schwenkt, bekommt er den Schock ... FAKE?

Thursday morning: Meteor spotted over Luxembourg & France
Luxemburger Wort - English Edition
Frederick R said: “I looked out of my office window while I was on a call and clearly saw a fireball with a tail light. What struck me was that it seemed ...

VIDEO: Fireball lights up skies over Spain
WPTV.com
The footage from the Calar Alto Observatory shows the fireball over the southern Spanish city of Cordoba. According to experts, thefireball was ...

A Beautiful Meteor Shower Could Be Evidence of a Dangerous New Comet
Popular Mechanics
On New Year's Eve, cameras in New Zealand captured a meteor shower that had never been seen before. Coming from the direction of the southern ...

Meteor Shower Points to 'Potentially Hazardous' Comet
Discovery News
While Earth can breathe easy for now, the SETI Institute and other astronomers are on the lookout for a “potentially hazardous” comet that may in the ...

A Beautiful Meteor Shower Could Be Evidence of a Dangerous New Comet
End Time Headlines
On New Year's Eve, cameras in New Zealand captured a meteor shower that had never been seen before. Coming from the direction of the southern ...

Meteor Shower Points to 'Potentially Hazardous' Comet
Portal to the Universe
Meteor Shower Points to 'Potentially Hazardous' Comet. 26 Feb 2016, 15:38 UTC Meteor Shower Points to 'Potentially Hazardous' Comet....

List of meteor showers in 2016
Tucson News Now
We have arguably the best views of the night sky in Arizona, which means you should mark down our annual meteor showers on your calendar.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

26 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 26FEB2016

NASA report Fireball / Bolide over mid-Atlantic on Sunday 21-Feb-2016 @ 05:58:53Z
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
NASA have updated their Fireball & Bolide webpage with an entry for 21-Feb. The space-rock in question was reported at 36.5N,37.2W (1,033km ...

Bright Light Spotted Throughout Interior Most Likely Meteor
webcenter11
A number of people reported seeing what some were calling a 'fireball in the sky' Wednesday night. Social media users from Fairbanks to Fort Yukon ...

Fireball reported over Alaska
Signs of the Times
Fairbanks - Interior Alaska residents from Fort Yukon to Eielson Air Force Base reported seeing a fireball overhead Wednesday about 7 p.m. The ...

Interior Alaska residents report fireball flashed overhead Wednesday
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner
Don Hampton of the Geophysical Institute's Poker Flat Research Range said, "It looks like a good sized meteor, but probably not a meteorite (which ...

Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance network
Astronomy Now
A new network of video surveillance cameras in New Zealand detected a surprise meteor shower on New Year's Eve. The shower is called the ...

25 February 2016 in News: Surprise discovery of new Southern Hemisphere meteor shower
Astronomy Now Online
A new network of video surveillance cameras in New Zealand detected a surprise meteor shower on New Year's Eve. The shower is called the ...

Largest Fireball Since Chelyabinsk Meteor Falls Over the Atlantic…
Before It's News
Largest Fireball Since Chelyabinsk Meteor Falls Over the Atlantic… But No One Notices. By Amber William​. On Feb. 6, 2016, around 14:00 UTC, ...

Huge fireball, 2nd largest in recent history, exploded over the Atlantic on February 6, NASA reveals
ChristianToday
Although not a lot of people noticed it, a huge fireball meteor blazed across and exploded across the sky over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil ...

A giant fireball with more force than Hiroshima bomb explodes
Pakistan Observer
NASA confirmed the fireball this week, noting the explosion took place off the coast of Brazil, releasing the equivalent of 13,000 tons of TNT. The blast ...

Meteorito explota en el Atlántico: el más grande desde el Cheliábinsk
Equilibrio Informativo
Un meteorito de entre cinco y siete metros de diámetro explotó sobre el océano Atlántico a principios de febrero, pero fue hasta ahora detectado.
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Meteorite Central
Meteorite Central shared a link: "Meteorite Hunters Find 6 Space Rocks..."



Meteorite Hunters Find 6 Space Rocks from Florida Fireball
goo.gl
Meteorite hunters spent three weeks scouring pine forests and swamps in Florida and turned up six meteorites from a Jan. 24 fireball.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Daytime fireball seen over Luxembourg, Saarland & Rheinland-Pfalz (SW Germany)

Daytime fireball seen over Luxembourg, Saarland & Rheinland-Pfalz (SW Germany)
reported by meteordetective
UPDATE: FRI-26-FEB-2016 12:54Z

American Meteor Society received 208 reports about this event, which can be viewed at the link below.  This was a major event.

http://www.amsmeteors.org/members/imo_view/event/2016/732

2 x sources:

http://www.lessentiel.lu/de/news/story/18615313

http://www.sr.de/sr/home/nachrichten/panorama/mysterioese_himmelsphaenomene100.html

Basic translation of articles via https://translate.google.com/

Summary:
Fireball was observed at lunchtime by several people who called the local authorities, reported it to radio stations and posted on Facebook about their sightings.  Approximate location: 45°49'N,06°38'E.  Time: +/-11:30 CET/10:30Z.  Possibility of meteorites being found.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

25 February 2016

NASA report Fireball / Bolide over mid-Atlantic on Sunday 21-Feb-2016 @ 05:58:53Z

NASA report Fireball / Bolide over mid-Atlantic on Sunday 21-Feb-2016 @ 05:58:53Z
reported by meteordetective
NASA have updated their Fireball & Bolide webpage with an entry for 21-Feb.

The space-rock in question was reported at 36.5N,37.2W (1,033km WSW of Ponta Delgada), at an altitude of 32.0km.

The Calculated Total Impact Energy was just under 1 kiloton, with Total Radiated Energy of 36.9E10 Joules (369,000,000,000 Joules).

Contact: meteordetective AT gmail DOT com.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 25FEB2016

Meteorite Hunters Find 6 Space Rocks from Florida Fireball
Space.com
Fries regularly keeps his eye on the American Meteor Society's (AMS) home page as well as social media, with the hope of hearing about a recent ...

A meteor that exploded over the Atlantic on Feb. 6 had more force than the Hiroshima bomb
Yahoo News
Earlier this month, folks detecting atmospheric explosions for the United States government noticed something a bit out of the ordinary off the coast of ...

SETI Warns Of Parent Body That Caused Recent Meteor Shower
silveristhenew
Researchers at the SETI Institute spotted something odd on New Year's Eve over New Zealand. A stream of meteor showers appeared out of nowhere ...

Fireball meteor exploded over the Atlantic earlier this month
Fox News
A fireball meteor shot across the sky over the Atlantic ocean earlier this month, according to NASA, which describes the fiery object as the largest since ...

Ancient Earth was pummelled with meteors 790000 years ago
Daily Mail
The event took place on February 6 at 14:00 UTC when a meteor exploded in the air 620 miles (1,000km) off the coast of Brazil. It released energy ...

Very bright meteor fireball seen over Spain, exhibiting several explosions
Signs of the Times
... than the full Moon and exhibited several explosions. This footage was recorded by the meteor observing station operated by the University of...

Is a rogue comet on a collision course with Earth?
Daily Mail
Astronomers at the SETI Institute in California and the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, say the meteor shower appeared over New Zealand on ...

NASA Says A Fireball Crashed Into The Atlantic, But No One Noticed
MSN.com
According to a report from NASA, an exceptionally bright meteor likely exploded over the South Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.

A Meteor Blew Up Over the Atlantic Ocean 3 Weeks Ago Nearly Unnoticed
University Herald
Ron Baalke, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, first reported the meteor impact and noted it was the "largest since Cheylabinsk." But whereas the ...

Largest meteor since Chelyabinsk burns up over Atlantic Ocean
NEOShield-2
The biggest fireball since the Chelyabinsk event plunged through the atmosphere just off the Brazilian coast earlier this month, releasing energy ...

Giant meteor hits Earth. Why no one saw it.
Christian Science Monitor
The largest meteor to impact Earth since 2013 went unnoticed when it landed on Feb. 6, as tracking near-Earth objects is improving but still notoriously ...

Biggest fireball since Chelyabinsk streaks over Atlantic Ocean
CBC.ca
The largest fireball to streak through the Earth's atmosphere since the Chelyabinsk meteor in 2013 was detected over the Southern Atlantic Ocean on ...

Meteor explodes in the atmosphere over Atlantic, But Nobody Noticed
Canada News
So why isn't YouTube flooded with videos of the meteor? Because the event happened so far out over the ocean it's likely no one saw it, about 620 ...

Thursday morning: Meteor spotted over Luxembourg & France
Luxemburger Wort - English Edition
If you thought you spotted an meteor above Luxembourg on Thursday morning, you probably did. The French Meteor Observation Network confirmed ...

Meteor explodes off the coast of Brazil
UPI.com
The largest meteoroid to pierce Earth's atmosphere in three years exploded earlier this month over the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Brazil, NASA ...

Meteor Explosion Over Atlantic Ocean
Headlines News
The Chelyabinsk Meteor, one of the largest meteor impacts on Earth, in terms of size and energy occurred on 15.

Meteor Strikes in Australia | Real or Fake?
MSN.com
While this guy was cruising along the beach, a "meteor" came crashing down to Earth making a bright flash and a loud boom. I'm sure most of the ...

Radio Meteor
Software download, software downloads
reviews for Radio Meteor, Radio Meteor download freely, full Radio Meteor software download in softwaretide.net.
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Josep Maria Trigo Rodríguez
February 25 at 7:00pm
EL METEORITO ARDÓN: Hace algo más de un año publicábamos con mi doctorando Carles Eduard Moyano Cambero este artículo divulgativo sobre la curiosa aventura de una condrita ordinaria de poco más de 5 gramos vista caer en frente de Rosa González Pérez en 1931. Para grata sorpresa de todos, fue preservada intacta por esa niña de 11 años durante 83 años. Quede nuestro trabajo de caracterización y nombrado internacional del meteorito como homenaje a su persona (D.E.P.) y a su familia, todo un ejemplo de humildad y buen hacer por su legado desinteresado a la ciencia: http://www.spmn.uji.es/ESP/articulo/Ardon_Astro.pdf


2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Another bolide over South-East Spain, Tuesday 23 Feb, 05:54Z/06:54L

Another bolide over South-East Spain, Tuesday 23 Feb, 05:54Z/06:54L
reported by meteordetective
"Very bright fireball over Spain on 23 Feb. 2016 at 5h54m UT (6h54m local time). The event was brighter than the full Moon and exhibited several explosions. This footage was recorded by the meteor observing station operated by the University of Huelva at La Hita astronomical observatory (Toledo)."

The video (with 1064 views at the time of writing), posted to Youtube by Meteors suggests that the bolide may have fragmented and produced meteorites during the final seconds of its descent.  Approximate location of event: 40.0N, 2.0W. Apparent direction of travel: ESE (Along a line from Madrid towards Gandia on the coast). Descent angle: +/-45°.

For more information, visit www.meteoroides.net (Universidad de Huelva).



2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

24 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 24FEB2016

Is a rogue comet on a collision course with Earth? Surprise meteor shower sparks hunt for ...
Daily Mail
Revellers in New Zealand were treated to a New Year's bonus during the first hours of 2016 with a meteor shower that lit up the sky, but there was one ...

"Fireball '2nd only to Chelyabinsk meteor' explodes unseen over Atlantic" - REDUX
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
Reporting carefully and comprehensively on a meteor event which occurred 17 days ago, with publicly available data which was seen 3 days ago but, ...

Largest Fireball Since Chelyabinsk Falls Over the Atlantic
Slate.com By Phil Plait- February 20, 2016
On Feb. 6, at about 14:00 UTC, a tiny chunk of interplanetary material plunged into Earth's atmosphere and burned up - likely exploding - about 30 kilometers above the Atlantic Ocean....

Multiple meteors hit Earth causing devastation including tsunamis and huge earthquakes
Express.co.uk
By gathering tektites – a natural glass which is found in meteor and asteroid debris – the experts from the Heidelberg University were able to pinpoint ...

Largest fireball since Chelyabinsk plunges through atmosphere over Atlantic
Telegraph.co.uk
Nasa employee Ron Baalke tweeted the incident after it appeared on the space agency's Fireball and Bolide Reports web page, which records all ...

NASA Records Huge Meteor Explosion That Produced Same Force As Atomic Bomb
Huffington Post UK
NASA has revealed that a massive meteor crashed into the Atlantic ocean earlier this month with the force equivalent to an atomic bomb. However ...

Large-ish Meteor Hits Earth... But No One Noticed
Discovery News
If a space rock hits the atmosphere, and no one is around to hear it, does the tabloid press still report it as an Earth-shattering event? Of course!

Huge meteor explodes in the atmosphere over Atlantic
The Daily Star
A full view of the smoke trail with the bulbous section corresponding to a mushroom cloud's cap during the meteor explosion in Chelyabinsk, Russia ...

Fireball explodes over the Atlantic Ocean with the same force as Hiroshimsa
9news.com.au
A fiery meteor which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean exploded with the same energy of the atomic bomb that decimated Hiroshima. On February 6 a ...

Asteroid impact sparks fireball with power of a nuclear bomb - why hasn't NASA raised the alarm?
Mirror.co.uk
A massive fireball with the power of a nuclear bomb exploded in Earth's atmosphere two weeks ago - and the world almost failed to notice it.

West Island residents say they hear 'strange trumpets in the sky'
Montreal Gazette
A meteor streaks across the sky against a field of stars during a meteorite shower early August 13, 2010 near Grazalema, southern Spain. JORGE ...
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Planetary Science Research Discoveries [PSRD] topics this month:

Iron Meteorites Just Below the Ice Surface
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/CosmoSparks/Feb16/Antarctic-irons.html

ANSMET 2015-2016 North to South in the Miller Range, Antarctica
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/CosmoSparks/Feb16/ANSMET-2015-2016.html

Space Weathering on the Moon--By Degrees Latitude
http://www.psrd.hawaii.edu/CosmoSparks/Feb16/LunarLatitudeSpaceWeathering.html

-----

Josep Maria Trigo Rodríguez
February 23 at 10:39pm
BÓLIDO SPMN230216: Un fantástico bólido capturado esta mañana a las 6h55m hora local por Estefania Blanch (CSIC-URLl) desintegrándose sobre el centro peninsular en el marco de las cámaras CSIC-IEEC que tenemos instaladas en el Observatorio del Ebro (CSIC-URLl) para el registro de bólidos. Más detalles en el listado Red SPMN: http://www.spmn.uji.es/ESP/SPMNlist.html
ÚLTIMOS BÓLIDOS REGISTRADOS POR LA RED DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE BÓLIDOS Y METEORITOS
www.spmn.uji.es
Se denomina a las estrellas fugaces más luminosas, aquellas que igualan o superan el planeta Venus (...

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Luis T Escudeiro
February 24 at 10:07pm
'Bola de fogo' explode sobre Atlântico a mil quilômetros da costa do Brasil - BBC Brasil
www.bbc.com
Bola de fogo é a maior desde queda de rocha espacial na Rússia em 2013.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

"Fireball '2nd only to Chelyabinsk meteor' explodes unseen over Atlantic" - REDUX

"Fireball '2nd only to Chelyabinsk meteor' explodes unseen over Atlantic" - REDUX
reported by meteordetective
Reporting carefully and comprehensively on a meteor event which occurred 17 days ago, with publicly available data which was seen 3 days ago but, thus far, had not been brought to the attention of the wider public audience.

Small excerpt from the RT article:

"The largest meteor since the one that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 burned up over the open ocean some 1,000 kilometers from the Brazilian coast on February 6, NASA reports. An extraterrestrial body allegedly the size of a large living room, about 5 to 7 meters across, released energy equivalent to 13,000 tons of TNT, which is 40 times less than the Chelyabinsk phenomenon.

The object entered the atmosphere before exploding at approximately 30km above the Atlantic. It couldn`t be observed from the ground as it fell too far away from any populated area unlike the Chelyabinsk meteor, which hit the city with over 1 million dwellers, damaging nearly 3,000 building and causing multiple injuries."

---

Reference / Need-To-Know
  1. NASA Fireballs web-page
  2. NASA Chelyabinsk meteor tracking article
  3. Wikpedia article on the "Little Boy" type of Atomic Bomb
  4. NASA Sentry / "Risk" Table
Commentary / Opinion:

From the data which NASA decided to publish on their "Fireballs" page, this event involved a relatively small chunk of space rock - however, the physics transforms a piece of space rock in to a potentially destructive 'space-bomb' of sorts...but let's put this incident in context.

Some, like the UK Mirror, are asking why NASA did not produce a major news-release, blog-post or even Tweet about it on the official NASA Twitter account?  It is the author's opinion that their main reason for not doing so is simple; They do not wish to 'scare the chickens' or even confuse them with the technical details.

If you've observed NASA and their 'data practices' for any length of time, you might be forgiven for thinking that they have a 'conservative' policy in this respect. To be fair to NASA, and other government agencies, too, the wider public are, more often than not, unable, uninterested or lacking in the technical knowledge, background or 'space knowledge' and/or scientific 'aptitude'...to have NASA giving them the occasional fright by way of a bite from the 'Space Rock Reality Burger'.

Sometimes 'they' simply don't want the public to know...although the public is aware of this long-standing, well-documented and prolific behaviour. Still, this is often the case and this blog post is not an entry point - in to the discussion about 'right to know', classified projects/documents/incidents etc.

Mr Plait, in his blog post article about the 'Atlantic' fireball, may have committed a minor 'sin' against NASA - by writing about a one-line table-entry on a relatively obscure NASA page, which had the potential to be transformed in to a headline article.  His blog-post has since been picked-up by countless 'news' agencies. Many of them have, arguably, sensationalised this event and have introduced words like "bomb" and "Hiroshima" to their headlines.  NASA's way of 'announcing' this event seems more appropriate and discrete...don't you think, or not??

For those 'in the know' and for those capable of viewing / translating 'dry' science data in to something meaningful, there was no need to 'go public' (although the data was publicly available) with this event. The public, at large, can easily be unsettled or even potentially frightened by what's out there (in the world as a whole) and by introducing, without context/background, a subject which is unfamiliar to them.

There is little, if any, purpose in causing an informational stampede or fear-mongering at large. More harm can sometimes be caused by 'going public' with information...and this remains true...even when it comes to space-rocks.

Yes, there was a small meteor which had substantial (potential) for destruction, but our atmosphere shielded us from this particular episode of doom and handled this small meteoroid without fuss.

There are much larger asteroids out there - along with Comets, and an almost incomprehensible number of planets and stars. (Allegedly, Charlie the Unicorn is out there, somewhere, too).

The reality is that Earth's atmosphere is tested by the occasional asteroid or, much more frequently, the much smaller meteoroids. Some make it down, through the atmosphere, to the surface, they strike the ground (astronomers apparently call it an "impact" when a meteor/meteoroid hits the atmosphere??), and become meteorites.

It's a numbers 'game' of probability - in the same way that winning the lottery is also a numbers game. Chance or probability favours, very strongly, that there will be a large number (you'd need to find and analyse this data for yourself) of space-rocks which do not pose a threat - versus a handful which occasionally penetrate our atmosphere and have the correct composition, size, velocities, trajectory and geographical location to present any form of threat to our planet or the life upon it.

Again, the chances are small of even seeing such a thing - however The Lunar Meteorite Hunter blog is a popular website which facilitates and encourages people to both report their meteor sightings and view other people's reports - from around the world. 

Sometimes (very occasionally) things are seen which are not reported or published - usually from a geopolitical/military secrecy perspective. It is appropriate to be conservative and responsible most, if not all, of the time. This policy/practice also deals with, and censors, the many hoaxes which are, unfortunately, played on the public and is successful most of the time in this respect.

So, getting back to the 'South Atlantic Fireball of February 2016'...

Yes, there was a small meteor which exploded high in the atmosphere with considerable force. NASA reported it, quietly, and then the 'newspapers' got hold of it. Enough said.

Please address any comments and/or questions, to meteordetective@gmail.com. If you'd like your comment posted/included in any further updates - please state your preference, along with your preference for anonymity (or not) and send them to the e-mail address above.

Thanks for reading.

(The right to publish/not publish is retained, as you would expect from any reasonable individual).

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!


23 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 23FEB2016

Fireball '2nd only to Chelyabinsk meteor' explodes unseen over Atlantic
RT
The largest meteor since the one that exploded over the Russian city of Chelyabinsk in 2013 burned up over the open ocean some 1,000 kilometers ...

'Great Balls of Fire' whoosh through skies in southern Spain
The Local.es
Observatories from the University of Huelva recorded a meteor falling towards Earth at 3:42am on Sunday morning. The cosmic object entered the ...

NASA Records Huge Meteor Explosion That Produced Same Force As Atomic Bomb
Huffington Post UK
NASA has revealed that a massive meteor crashed into the Atlantic ocean earlier this month with the force equivalent to an atomic bomb. However ...

100-foot asteroid to zoom past Earth in two weeks, and 'it's gonna be close'
San Jose Mercury News
In 2013, a meteor about 50 feet across exploded in the air above Chelyabinsk, Russia. It caused a fireball and shock wave that damaged 7,000 ...

Largest fireball since Chelyabinsk falls into Earth: Nasa reports huge explosion of seven meter ...
Daily Mail
A huge fireball crashed into the Atlantic earlier this month - and went almost unseen. The event took place on February 6 at 14:00 UTC when a meteor ...

A Meteor With the Power of an Atomic Bomb Exploded Over the Atlantic and Nobody Noticed
Gizmodo UK
On the 6th February at 2pm UTC - a Saturday afternoon - a meteor with roughly the same explosive power as the nuclear bomb which hit Hiroshima ...

Large Fireball From Space Crashes Into Atlantic
Sky News
It is the largest incident of its type since February 2013 when a fireball exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, leaving more than 1,600 people injured.

The largest fireball since Chelyabinsk exploded over the Atlantic - but nobody saw it
ScienceAlert
Case in point - the largest fireball since 2013's epic Chelyabinsk explosion burned up over the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month, and thanks to it ...

692a
American Meteor Society
Observer. Name, D K. Experience Level, 3/5. Remarks, Never have seen this before. Thought a satellite might have been blown out of orbit ...

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

22 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 22FEB2016

Bolide over Spanish/Portuguese border: Sunday 21-Feb-2016, 02:42Z
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
The event was recorded by the meteor recording stations that the University of Huelva operates at the astronomical observatories located at La Hita ...

Largest fireball meteor since Chelyabinsk falls over the Atlantic
Signs of the Times
NASA image of a fireball from a past meteor shower. On Feb. 6, 2016, around 14:00 UTC, a tiny chunk of interplanetary material plunged into Earth's ...

Asteroid will whiz past Earth next month
Monterey County Herald
In this frame grab made from a video done with a dashboard camera a meteor streaks through the sky over Chelyabinsk, about 1500 kilometers (930 ...
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Gabriel Rodrigues Hickel
February 22 at 7:36pm
http://arxiv.org/abs/1602.06000
[1602.06000] First Results from the Rapid-Response Spectrophotometric Characterization of...
arxiv.org

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Bolide over Spanish/Portuguese border: Sunday 21-Feb-2016, 02:42Z

Bolide over Spanish/Portuguese border: Sunday 21-Feb-2016, 02:42Z
reported by meteordetective
"Amazing fireball observed over the South of Spain and Portugal on 21 Feb. 2016, at 2h42m UT. The event was produced by a meteoroid that impacted the atmosphere at about 120.000 km/h. It started at an altitude of about 100 km and ended at a height of about 42 km. The event was recorded by the meteor recording stations that the University of Huelva operates at the astronomical observatories located at La Hita (Toledo), Sevilla and Huelva."
Descent angle: +/- 60 degrees | Approximate Lat/Long: 38.3N, 7.07W
Click image to enlarge screenshot

Posted to Youtube by Meteors | 223 Views
Credit: facebook.com/meteoroides
2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

21 February 2016

Meteor Observed: NE Coast of Morocco, Friday 19 Feb 2016, 19:06Z

Meteor Observed: NE Coast of Morocco, Friday 19 Feb 2016, 19:06Z
reported by meteordetective
"Fireball observed over Morocco on 19 Feb. 2016, at 19h 06 m UT. The event was recorded by several meteor observing stations operated by the University of Huelva in Spain."
Direction of travel: NNW -> SSE, Descent angle: +/- 30 degrees. Approx Lat/Long: 35.65N,4.90W.
Posted to YouTube by Meteors.

185 Views at time of posting:
www.meteoroides.net/Universidad de Huelva

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 21FEB2016

Two Comets to make record close-approach during March 2016
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
Two Comets Headed for close approaches to Earth Record-Breaking Comet Flyby March 2016 March turns out to be the month of great celestial ...

This Is How Meteorite Searchers Found Those That Landed Near Lake City
WUFT
The meteorites are believed to be a result of a daytime fireball — a space debris randomly meeting the Earth's atmosphere and producing an intense ...

Largest Fireball Since Chelyabinsk Falls Over the Atlantic - And Almost No One Notices
Slate Magazine (blog)
On Feb. 6, 2016, around 14:00 UTC, a tiny chunk of interplanetary material plunged into Earth's atmosphere and burned up — likely exploding ...

Meteor fireball observed over Morocco
Signs of the Times
Fireball observed over Morocco on 19 Feb. 2016, at 19h 06 m UT. The event was recorded by several meteor observing stations operated by the ...

Russia plans to use modified missiles to shoot asteroids
SlashGear
Apparently this is the country's strategy for revenge for the 2013 meteor that exploded over the city of Chelyabinsk, injuring over 1,000 people.

Antarctica meteorites can unlock mystery of universe, believe scientists: Chilling facts about ...
India Today
The continent's strong magnetic activity attracts many meteor strikes every year. According to a BBC feed, Dr Katherine Joy from the University of ...

Event 683-2016
American Meteor Society
AMS received 18 reports about a fireball seen over CA, AZ and NV on Saturday, February 20th 2016 around 13:23 UT.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

20 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 20FEB2016

France / Italy Bolide Fireball Meteor 17FEB2016 w/ Videos
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
The American Meteor Society received over 55 reports so far about a fireball event over Southern France on Wednesday, February 19th 2016 around .

Russia wants to modify Cold War missiles to destroy asteroids
CNN
In 2013, a 20-meter-wide meteor exploded in the sky over Chelyabinsk, Russia, with the estimated ... READ: Russia starts cleanup after meteor strike.

Scientists solve case of missing asteroids
The Space Reporter
Disintegrated asteroids may also explain meteor showers. Many meteor showers seem lacking in a parent object such as a comet that is usually ...

Australian catches close-up footage of meteor
Signs of the Times
Melbourne -- A man testing out his body camera at a Victoria, Australia, beach captured video of a suspected meteor falling to earth nearby. The video ...

Australian man catches close-up footage of suspected meteor
UPI.com
MELBOURNE, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A man testing out his body camera at a Victoria, Australia, beach captured video of a suspected meteor falling to earth ...

Meteor fireball filmed over Euless, Texas
Signs of the Times
Meteor Feb 17 2016 Euless, TX Cool video I captured with my dashcam of a really close meteor. I witnessed a similar incident higher up in the sky 2 ...

Meteorite falls to Earth near French ski resort
YouTube
Meteorite falls to Earth near French ski resort Players and spectators of a rugby match in Valmorel, south-eastern France, had a rare opportunity to see ...

WATCH: Meteor lights up sky over parts of Europe
Globalnews.ca
The American Meteor Society received 55 reports of the bright meteor — also called a bolide — over the Alps. Reports came in from France, Italy, ...

Fireball meteor recovered in Osceola County, Florida
Signs of the Times
You may remember hearing about a fireball meteor that streaked across the daytime sky in Florida late last month. Fragments of that meteorite have ...
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Elias Junior
February 20 at 4:22am
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaCTiezHAW4
Grosso Meteorite sul Nord Italia - Large meteorite crashes into the atmosphere.
Italy - Collecchio 17.02.2016 ore 18:20 circa: Grosso meteorite precipita in atmosfera. Large meteor...
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Gabriel Rodrigues Hickel
February 20 at 3:19am
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160217140311.htm
Puzzling asteroid observations explained by destruction of asteroids close to Sun
www.sciencedaily.com
For two decades it was thought that most near-Earth objects (NEOs) -- asteroids and comets that may ...

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

Two Comets to make record close-approach during March 2016

Two Comets to make record close-approach during March 2016
reported by meteordetective
Click-on image to enlarge | Credit: Nemesis Maturity 2016
Two comets headed for close approaches to Earth record-breaking comet flyby in March 2016.
March turns out to be the month of great celestial events in 2016. On March 21 the comet 252P/LINEAR 12 will make its closest approach yet, passing just 3.1 million miles (5.3 million km) Comet P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS) is set to pass by Earth at a distance of 2.1 million miles (3.5 million km). This is a record-breaking approach to Earth for a comet!!! Comet's P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS) passage will be the closest known comet flyby of the last 230 hundred years. Comet P/2016 BA14 (PANSTARRS) was discovered by the Pan-STARRS survey on 2016 Jan 22

"Twin" Comets Headed for close approaches to Earth Record-Breaking Comet Flyby March 2016
Posted to Youtube by: nemesis maturity 2,624 views

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

19 February 2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 19FEB2016

The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News 18FEB2016
The Latest Worldwide Meteor/Meteorite News
A fireball streaked across the sky in the Richmond region and much of the East Coast on Tuesday, according to the American Meteor Society.

Australian man catches close-up footage of suspected meteor
Big News Network.com
MELBOURNE, Feb. 19 (UPI) -- A man testing out his body camera at a Victoria, Australia, beach captured video of a suspected meteor falling to earth ...

Russia Is Targeting Asteroids
Mirror Daily
The meteor explosion that took place in 2013 in the northeast of Russia caused a shock wave that injured more than 1,500 individuals and severely ...

Green balls of fire! Watch a meteorite light up the sky over France
BT.com
Specialists from civil aviation have told us that it was probably a meteor shower,” Alexander Grimaud, director of the prefect of Isère's office told Le ...

Hundreds Witness Large Meteor Explodes Over South France (Video)
Before It's News
The fireball was seen primarily from the Alpine region but witnesses from as far as Corsica, Switzerland and Spain also reported the event.

VIDEO: Meteor spotted on Valentine's Day
6abc.com
Action News viewer Michael Cheatle shared video of a Valentine's Day meteor streaking over Stone Harbor, New Jersey, just after 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

How the Sun Protects Earth From Getting Clobbered By an Asteroid
TIME
That still leaves a lot of debris on the loose—witness the 66-ft (20 m) meteor that exploded in the skies over Chelyabinsk, Russia in 2013. All the same ...

A month of meteor's: Another two fireballs light up the sky in Italy France and Switzerland
The Big Wobble
Photo Youreporter.It A streaking fireball brighter than the full moon lit up skies over northern Italy on Wednesday evening. The fireball left a trail of ...

Study: Iron-rich meteorites lie deep in Antarctica's ice
AOL News
Antarctica is a rich area for meteorites, but one type has been under-represented, and a group of scientists from the University of Manchester believes ...

Meteor caught on video found weeks later in Florida
Cox - Cox Communications
Meteor caught on video found weeks later in Florida by Kimberly Miller, Palm Beach Post 3 hours ago. A group of meteorite hunters found six pieces of ...

Meteorite fall in Italy Feb 18, 2016
YouTube
RSOE EDIS Event Report - A streaking fireball brighter than the full moon lit up skies over northern Italy on Wednesday evening. The fireball left a trail ...

WATCH: Amazing footage emerges of 'flaming space orb' narrowly missing ski resort
Daily Star
But today a recording taken of an rugby game has emerged showing the errie green meteorite head in their direction. If a space rock is heading ...

Falling meteorite lights up skies over northern Italy
The Local - 18 Feb 2016
A streaking fireball brighter than the full moon lit up skies over northern Italy on Wednesday evening.The fireball left a trail of vapour hanging in the sky for minutes. ...

Fireball meteor recovered in Florida
Tucson News Now
You may remember hearing about a fireball meteor that streaked across the daytime sky in Florida late last month. Fragments of that meteorite have ...

France: Watch as meteorite falls to Earth near French ski resort
YouTube
Spectators watching a snow rugby match at the Tournoi des 6 stations in Valmorel on Wednesday evening got a rare treat as a meteorite was seen ...

Russia has plans to build missiles for space that could be fired at a moment's notice
Business Insider
The Chelyabinsk meteor, for example, that exploded over Russia in 2013 was about 65 feet wide. The explosion and resulting shockwave sent 1,500 ...

3 New Dark Sky Preserves for Meteor Gazing in Michigan
Patch.com
Up next: The Lyrids, which can be a dandy of meteor shower with unpredictable surges. The moon could wash it all out, though.

Sud-Est : Une boule de feu aperçue dans le ciel
La-Kabylie.com
"Nous avons rapidement levé le doute: les spécialistes de l'aviation civile nous ont indiqué que c'était probablement une pluie demétéorites qui avait ...

'It was mind blowing': Fireball mystery in French skies enthralls Twitter
RT
A falling mass of flames over France has taken social media by storm, with eyewitnesses wondering whether it was a meteorite or even an aircraft ...

Meteor Activity Outlook for February 20-26, 2016
American Meteor Society
This will be the worst time of the month to try and view meteor activity as the bright moon all obscure all but the brightest meteors. The estimated total ...
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Gabriel Rodrigues Hickel
February 18 at 7:40pm


2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!

18 February 2016

Switzerland / France / Italy Bolide Fireball Meteor 17FEB2016 w/ Videos

Southern France / Switzerland / Italy Bolide Fireball Meteor 18.20 (GMT +1) 17FEB2016 w/ Videos
MeteorRats Scramble! Booms reported. Rocks?!

Click on Image to Enlarge
This image is NOT of this event; I have now confirmed via Google Image Search.
Wake bright sighted in the South Italy, dozens of reports between Puglia and Basilicat
Scia luminosa avvistata al Sud Italia, decine di segnalazioni tra Puglia e Basilicata
Photo Credit- scienzenotizie.it
Video 1
Grande Meteorite sul Nord Italia - Large fireball crashes into the atmosphere.Posted to YouTube by Andrea Franchi 28,404
Collecchio, Italy -  17.02.2016 time 18.20 (GMT +1)

Video 2
AMS Event #631-2016 - Fireball over Southern France
Posted to YouTube by American Meteor Society 1,799 views

Great 'balls of fire' light up skies of southern France
The Local.fr
... to some kind of military exercise and others panicked that planes were on fire, the fireballs are believed to have been caused by a meteor shower.

Bright meteor fireball lights up sky over southern France
Signs of the Times
Hundreds of people across south eastern France reported seeing the skies lit up by "balls of fire" on Wednesday evening. While many wondered ...

Fireball Visible in Sky Above Northern Italy
MSN.com
A bright fireball was spotted streaking across the skies of Italy on February 17. According to reports from MeteoWeb, the blaze was visible in several ...

Bright Fireball over Southern France caught on video
American Meteor Society
The American Meteor Society received over 55 reports so far about a fireball event over Southern France on Wednesday, February 19th 2016 around ...
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Meteorite Central
"Falling meteorite lights up skies over..."

Falling meteorite lights up skies over northern Italy
www.thelocal.it
A streaking fireball brighter than the full moon lit up skies over northern Italy on Wednesday evening.

2016 The THIRD Year of "CERTAIN Uncertainty" ™ / Meteors, Asteroids, Comets, and MORE!!