POSSIBLE COMET OUTBURST

A comet discovered just a few days ago by amateur astronomers in Japan is gliding by Saturn in the pre-dawn sky. Comet Ikeya-Murakami (C/2010 V1) is not visible to the unaided eye, but observers say it is a fairly easy target for backyard telescopes. Images obtained over the weekend reveal what appears to be an outburst in progress. The comet's coma (atmosphere) bears a striking resemblance to the coma of Comet Holmes, which famously exploded in 2007. Check http://spaceweather.com

Bright Light Streaks Across Seattle Sky Wednesday Morning

KIRO 7 Eyewitness News Reporter Michelle Millman and engineer Dan Crouch both saw flaming debris streak across the sky at about 3:20 this morning. (more)...

BREAKING NEWS...BOLIDE/FIREBALL SEEN OVER NE U.S. COASTLINE NOV. 2, 2010

Major Fireball/Meteor Event

Northeast and New England States

Tuesday November 2nd, 2010

7:20 p.m. EDT

written by Jim Gamble

El PasoTX Station

Sandia Allsky Camera

North American Meteor Network

 

On Tuesday November 2nd at approximately 7:20 p.m. EDT, numerous reports began to stream into http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com of a very bright meteor event along the U.S. east coast from Rhode Island to Maine. The following is a summary of those reports.

*7:20 p.m EDT….Report from North Quincy MA south of Logan airport of a ball of fire with a comet-like trail moving slowly from Southeast to Northwest. As the object dimmed, red colored debris could be seen fragmenting behind the parent body.

*7:15 p.m. EDT….Report from East Weymouth, MA of a large white ball with a long tail behind it moving toward Boston from South Shore. Object appeared to be moving East to West lasting approximately 3 to 4 seconds. Object appeared to explode with red colored pieces falling toward the ground.

*7:18 p.m. EDT….Report of a very large ball of fire with an even longer tail behind it moving East to West over Hampstead NH. Fireball lasted a couple of seconds.

*7:30 p.m. EDT….Report from Warwick, RI of a blue-ish green fireball lasting about 2 seconds. Reporter lives near an airport. No report of direction of movement.

*Just before 7:20 p.m. EDT….Report from a pilot at home 16 miles Northwest of Boston, MA of a fireball transiting a Northeast facing window about 3 to 4 degrees above the horizon. Fireball was yellow in color and lasted 4 seconds. Reporter notes pieces falling off parent body during it’s flight.

*7:15 p.m. EDT….Report from Gloucester/Rockport, MA of a very bright, very low green colored fireball moving from Southeast to Northwest. Reporter indicates a wide, long tail of “white sparklers”. Object appeared to break up quickly. Reporter notes a very clear dark sky.

UPDATES as of 10:30 a.m. MDT Wed. Nov 3, 2010

*No Time Reported....Report from Hudson NH. Fireball appeared about 4-5 degrees off of the horizon beginning in the east and transiting out of view to the north.  Bright white in appearance, with fragments falling off. Reminded reporter of the video of the shuttle break-up a few years ago.

 *7:15 p.m. EDT....Report from Quebec City Canada of a bolide passing overhead moving West to East. Event lasted 4 to 6 seconds. Object reported to break up during flight over the area.

*7:30-ish p.m. EDT....Report fromNorthfield MA of a fireball traveling east to west. It was a long, comet type object that was shedding fragments behind it as it slowly moved across the sky.

*7:15 p.m. EDT....Report from Holderness NH of a fireball at about 12 degrees up from horizontal, at 100 degrees (magnetic). It reached a peak at about 35 degrees - perhaps 40, then traveled NW toward 32o degrees, exploding in a fireball at about 15 - 18 degrees up from the horizontal. Observer reports impression of a smoky tail.

*7:15 p.m. EDT....I was working in Queens, NY at Rufus King park at approx. 7:15pm I saw a HUGH fireball flying low to the ground. It was headed east toward Boston. It was no other shooting star. I could see craters in it. It was emitting fiery sparkles with a huge tail. I thought it was a rocket. I actually braced for impact because it was so low.

This summary will be updated as additional reports/data come in.

Please refer any inquiries or e-mail videos and/or pics to drtanuki@gmail.com

http://lunarmeteoritehunters.blogspot.com

copyright 2010, 2011 Jim Gamble

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Nov. 03/2010 12:05:46 UTC

Bright meteor, likely a Taurid captured by the El Paso Allsky Camera at 12:05:46 UTC (05:05:46 MDT). Looks as though this year's Taurids will be fairly consistent through the middle of November.

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Nov. 02/2010 10:03:22 UTC

This is the latest in an ongoing series of late Orionid and early Taurid meteors over the SW U.S. This event occured at 10:03:22 UTC (03:03:22 MDT) on November 2nd. I will continue to post each event on this site and will composite all the images in this series once the Taurid shower peaks.

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Nov. 02/2010 08:50:29 UTC

Bright meteor captured by the El Paso, TX allsky camera at 08:50:29 UTC (01:50:29 MDT) on November 2, 2010.

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Nov. 02/2010 04:24:13 UTC

Yet another bright Taurid to the WSW of El Paso, TX. This one at 04:24:13 UTC-11/02... (21:24:13 MDT on 11/01). The Taurid Meteor Shower won't peak until later this month so still many nights to observe some of the brighter shower related meteors of the year.

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Nov.1/2010 04:25:22 UTC

Likely another Taurid meteor captured by the El Paso Allsky Camera. This bright event occured at 04:25:22 UTC (21:25:22 MDT) on 11/1/2010. Possibly greater than a -11 magnitude at peak flare.

Meteor News...Latest El Paso Meteor Event Oct. 31/2010 09:50:10 UTC

The Taurid Meteor Shower is underway and if this event is any indication, it should produce some nice fireballs. This one occured at 09:50:10 UTC (02:50:12 MDT) over El Paso, Tx. and lasted about 2 seconds. Hopefully, there are more to come!

Meteor News...Williamson Iowa Meteor/Fireball

Fireball Meteor over southern Iowa - Williamson,Iowa, KCCI's u ...
Fireball Meteor captured with my all sky camera at my Observatory the morning
of October 30,2010,,at 12:30am....Tim Cline,,Lucas County Iowa.... (video link)...

Will Comet Hartley 2 spawn a new meteor shower?

It’s very unlikely, but two intriguing pieces of evidence point to Hartley 2, the comet of the moment,  as a possible source of two recent bright fireballs seen over Canada and the southeastern U.S. On Oct. 16, two NASA all-sky cameras (more)...

Comet Hartley sports a short tail extending to the lower right in this photo taken earlier this month. Credit: Michael Jaeger

Full Moon Doesn't Phase Orionids Viewing

Despite the fullness of the moon, the all-sky meteor camera at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., managed to detect a decent number of Orionid meteors this October -- 41 in total! These meteors, produced by debris from Halley's Comet, travel at 146,000 miles per hour and burn up high in the atmosphere. (more)...

 

Shown above are two Orionid meteors observed on Oct. 21, 2010.  The shower radiant, located near the constellation Orion, is easily visible.

Unusual Meteor Activity Over Mexico

Dr. Salvador Aguirre of Hermosillo, Sonora NW Mexico captured an unusual outburst of activity on his Sentinel All Sky Camera Oct. 26. 6 events in a 4.5 hour period occured between 07:15 UTC and 11:25 UTC. A check of the El Paso, TX camera 491km (305mi) away did not reveal the outburst. (Hermosillo camera images below courtesy Dr. Salvador Aguirre). No speculation yet as to a possible radiant. Updates later on this site.

 

composite of 6 events over NW Mexico 10-26-10

Celestial News: Halloween Fireballs

Don’t be surprised if you see a blazing fireball or two streaking across the heavens while you are out trick-or-treating this weekend.  There’s no reason for alarm.  It’s just the annual Taurid meteor showers reaching their peak of activity. (more)...

The Taurid meteor shower, currently under way, will peak in Early November. Watch for slow, colorful fireballs that point backwards toward the Pleiades star cluster in Taurus, the Bull. The Pleiades are at top center in this image. Photo by Jimmy Westlake, 2008.

 

Oct 25/26/27/28 Meteors

October 29, 2010 by Carl Hergenrother
In the last ‘Meteor’ post, I was all excited about getting a clear night (Oct 25/26) to catch some Orionids. I guess I spoke too soon. Even though there were no obvious clouds in all of AZ on the IR satellite image, there were clouds over Tucson. I’ve seen this before where the entire state is clear but the Tucson valley forms a cap of clouds. Luckily, the conditions have gotten better and last night (Oct 27/28) was crystal clear. (more)...

Deep Impact spacecraft readies for comet encounter

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A NASA spacecraft is about to have another close look at a comet. Next week, the Deep Impact spacecraft is set to pass within 435 miles of a half-mile-wide comet named Hartley 2. It will use its telescopes and other instruments to examine the surface and record gas outbursts. (more)...

Scientists Watch for a "Hartley-id" Meteor Shower

This month, Comet Hartley 2 has put on a good show for backyard astronomers. The comet’s vivid green atmosphere and auburn tail of dust look great through small telescopes, and NASA’s Deep Impact/EPOXI probe is about to return even more dramatic pictures when it flies past the comet’s nucleus on Nov. 4th. (more)...

This image of comet Hartley 2 was captured by amateur astronomer Byron Bergert on Oct. 6 in Gainesville, Florida using a 106 mm Takahashi astrograph. Image credit: Byron Berger

Meteor News...Michigan Fireball OCT 16 2010

Crackle' sound precedes flash and glowing space in Michigan night sky

Michigan witnesses report hearing a "fizzle, pop, crackle" sound as an "intense" white flash of light went off in the sky followed by a "wide, long, glowing space" that seemed to sparkle for 20 seconds on October 16, 2010, according to testimony from the Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) witness reporting database. (more)...

Meteor News...North Texas Fireball OCT 16 2010

As I walked out of my garage at about 7:10 CDT this morning, I saw a very nice bolide in the eastern sky. It ran from about 35 degrees down to about 15 degrees altitude. It HAD to be very bright as it was quite prominent even right above the dawning sun (still below the horizon, but close). Anyone else see it? (more)...

More News....Ireland Fireball

 The fireball of 10th October 2010 as imaged by one of the Armagh Observatory cameras at 02:32 am.
Armagh Observatory received many telephone and internet reports from members of the public regarding sightings of a bright meteor or fireball which crossed over Northern Ireland in the early morning of Sunday, 10th October. (more)...

ORIONID METEOR SHOWER

http://spaceweather.com/http://meteor.uwo.ca/Earth is entering a broad stream of debris from Halley's Comet, and this is causing the annual Orionid meteor shower. "The best time to look is during the hours before dawn on Thursday, Oct. 21st, and again on Friday, Oct 22nd," advises Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "Unfortunately, we have a bright Moon this year. Even so, I'd expect some bright Orionids to shine through the moonlight." An all-sky camera at the University of Western Ontario recorded this early Orionid fireball on Oct. 18th: (more)...

Stargazers Can watch Orionid Meteor Shower, Debris From Halley's Comet

The 2010 Orionid meteor shower peaks during the day of October 21, 2010. For stargazers wanting to observe Orionid meteors, the best times will me the mornings of October 21 and October 22. (more)...

Fireball streaks across Northern Ireland skies

The cause was actually a meteoroid, an orange-sized piece of a comet or asteroid, burning up over Northern Ireland early last Sunday. (more)...

San Diego Fireball OCT 10 2010

METEOR SIGHTING CONFIRMED BY 2ND WITNESS; EXPERTS SEEKS MORE INFO TO LAUNCH RECOVERY EFFORT.

October 14, 2010 (San Diego’s East County) – Earlier this week we published an inquiry from a Deerhorn Valley/Jamul reader who believed she saw a large meteor possibly crashing to earth over East County on Monday night, October 10. (more)...

Latest El Paso All Sky Camera Detections

OCT 16 2010
01:14:00 UTC
ELP All Sky

OCT 14 2010
02:46:39 UTC
ELP All Sky

OCT 11 2010
11:56:32 UTC
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OCT 11 2010 
05:31:12 UTC
ELP All Sky