[meteorite-list] Fireballs From The Sky: Bombarded
From: rocks at projectargus.com <rocks_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Apr 2009 09:03:24 -0400 Message-ID: <A720D05FDE1E44AFA01B7E426A26E3D1_at_NoahLaptop> I never said there was only 1 bolide event per month. I said there was roughly 1 confirmed meteorite event per month. I don't know much about bolide stats, so I should leave this discussion to the experts. I was just pointing out that we haven't had an unreasonably high number of meteorite falls. Yes, it has been a good meteorite fall rate - but still within normal range, as far as I can tell. (And yes, I think the "normal range" is slowly increasing each year due to the effects I mentioned...) You wrote: "to a great extend this increase can be due to the reasons you mention (more people having internet, higher meteor popularity etc), but can you prove that ALL the increase can be attributed to that?" Unfortunately, this is difficult to measure. However, I'd say the burden of proof lies with those proposing that we are travelling through a debris field. You make some very good points, and I will have to give this some thought. The all sky survey data you mention is very interesting! --Noah ----- Original Message ----- From: <daphnelwest at gmail.com> To: <rocks at projectargus.com> Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 3:51 PM Subject: Re: Re: [meteorite-list] Fireballs From The Sky: Bombarded seems to me there is more than 1 bolide event per month: jan 17 DANISH FIREBALL: A meteoroid of unknown size hit Earth's atmosphere over Danmark and Sweden last night (Jan. 17 at 1909 UT) and exploded, turning the sky "lightning blue and green." http://spaceweather.com/glossary/fireballreports_17jan09.htm?PHPSESSID=jidr0p3on59h9u4ah10776l4i0 jan 17 another Fireball in northern Spain came in only minutes before the danish one. http://www.spmn.uji.es/ESP/SPMNlist.html jan 19 California A brilliant fireball occurring over southern California. The event occurred at 5:33pm PST on January 18 (01:33 UT Jan 19) and was widely observed over the southern half of California, western Nevada, and western Arizona (including the Phoenix area). http://malcs64.tigblog.org/?setlangcookie=true jan 19 Norway FIREBALL UPDATE: "Today, on Monday, Jan. 19th at 16:28 UT, a huge fireball was seen in western Norway," reports Runar Sandnes of the Norwegian Astronomical Society. "It was visible for about 5 seconds and witnesses describe it as 'breathtaking.' The meteor was last seen disintegrating over the North Sea." http://talk.livedaily.com/showthread.php?p=14461677 http://www.nas-veven.no/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=116:kraftig-meteor-observert-pa-vestlandet&catid=3:nyhetsmelding Jan 20 2045 MST Barbara & Paul Weber Etna Wyoming Magnitude >-27 duration 8 sec color White http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireball/fireball_log2009.html jan 22 Australia 22/01/09 11:31 pm Just saw a huge Meteor/Meteorite in the sky. It was fast moving but it probably lasted about 4-5secs before it fell out of view behind the next door neighbors house. It was absolutely amazing. It was huge I could see it pulsating a greeny/yellow color as it fragmented and burned up in the atmosphere. http://forums.ski.com.au/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=585335 jan 23 Massachusetts and Rhode Island Observers are reporting a "huge, pulsating blue-green fireball" sighted within minutes of 8:48 pm EST on Jan. 23rd. It was bright enough to be seen through heavy cloud cover, according to one witness. http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=24&month=01&year=2009 jan 27 USA San Francisco I spotted something falling last night at about 9:55pm, facing south. http://transientsky.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/jan-2425-meteors/ jan 28 USA Nebraska The color was red/yellow and I think mostly from the fire that was surrounding it. There was also a short tail of fire following. http://www.ufostalker.com/?eventId=15263 www.examiner.com/r-6141753~Flaming_fireball_from_the_sky.html jan 29 USA Illinois 11:00 p.m., I was outside on my deck and witnessed something in the sky that completely blew me away. I described it to my husband as a huge falling star that had a very long and bright tail. http://transientsky.wordpress.com/2009/01/27/jan-252627-meteors/ feb 9 Hawaii Fireball lights up sky and causes jaws to drop Joanna Spofford, walking with her 3-year-old daughter in Kalama Valley, said, "It was the scariest thing in the world." http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090220_Fireball_lights_up_sky_and_causes_jaws_to_drop.html Feb 10 Canada BC At about 4:30 p.m., an extremely bright, starlike object appeared in the sky over the Northern or Central Okanagan, which was seen from as far south as Okanagan Falls, south of Penticton. http://www.bclocalnews.com/okanagan_similkameen/keremeosreview/lifestyles/39747958.html Feb 13 USA Kentucky, people in central Kentucky heard loud booms, felt their houses shake, and saw a fireball streaking through the sky. http://www.counton2.com/cbd/news/local/article/fireball_spotted_streaking_across_sky_in_summerville/20791/ Feb 13 Italy another fireball at least 10 times brighter than a full Moon lit up the sky over Italy. http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=16&month=02&year=2009 Feb 14 Argentina A fireball was seen in two entire provinces 600 kilometers from north to south and some 500 from east to west. It had white light that turned to blue and finally to greenish blue, with an approximate duration of between 5 to 10 seconds. Some witnesses - not all - report hearing a detonation." http://inexplicata.blogspot.com/2009_02_01_archive.html Feb 15 USA Texas, A daylight fireball over Texas on Sunday, Feb. 15th, Researchers have studied video of the event and concluded that the object was likely a natural meteoroid about one meter wide traveling more than 20 km/s?much faster than orbital debris. http://www.counton2.com/cbd/news/local/article/fireball_spotted_streaking_across_sky_in_summerville/20791/ Feb 20 USA MA Nantucket Island Terry Galschneider was up early watching television when she said a dramatic orange fireball ?lit up the sky? for five seconds. http://www.ack.net/022609fireball.html Feb 21 Houston Texas Daylight meteor caught by accident on handicam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjt3d-wA6dw&NR=1 Feb 24 vafb California probably not a bolide; nice footage anyway http://www.sbig.com/allsky/VAFB/VAFBCarbonObservatory.gif Feb 26 Anderson, California It occurred at 4 a.m. Feb. 26 outside their cottage on Frances Street in Cottonwood."There was a loud explosion and bright light," Orsot said."It was a big kaboom," said Leroy Bolls, the couple's next-door neighbor. "Like a sonic boom, but real close." http://www.andersonvalleypost.com/news/2009/mar/17/unidentified-object-from-sky-hits-vehicle-in/?partner=RSS Feb 27 Yuba City California http://www.geocities.com/stange34 at sbcglobal.net/2009more.html Mar 1 Zimbabwe Africa A large rock mysteriously falls from the sky in Nkayi village, The rock was heard in the entire Lukampa area as well as Matshena, Mbuma and Nkalathi areas. The rock weighs 15kg and is black and very smooth outside. It is grey inside. The object could be a meteorite that dropped to earth from outer space. http://www.zimdiaspora.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=894:a-large-rock-mysteriously-falls-from-the-sky-in-zimbabwes-nkayi-village&catid=38:travel-tips&Itemid=274 Mar 5 Holland Europe Klaas Jobse was the fortunate imager of this fireball, using his automated all-sky camera system. Unfortunately, sky conditions there were rather poor - you can see how cloudy it was for Klaas on this image here - so it is probably a measure of the event's brilliance that it was recorded at all! http://cyclops.klaasjobse.nl/jcms/showpic.php?img=453_20090305_0254UT_web_w658h600.jpg Mar 6 Holland another the next night. http://cyclops.klaasjobse.nl/jcms/showpic.php?img=454_20090306_0214UT_web_w658h600.jpg Mar 7 Westchester NY The loud boom heard throughout southern Westchester early yesterday morning might have been a meteor crashing through the atmosphere at thousands of miles per hour. Liz Holland, who lives atop a ridge in Mount Kisco, said she happened to be looking out a south window around 12:30 a.m. and saw on the horizon a brilliant yellow object streaking through the sky in a downward arc. "It was pretty bright," she said. "It wasn't huge, but bigger than a shooting star, like a thick piece of string." http://lohud.com/article/20090308/NEWS02/903080385/-1/SPORTS Mar 10 Rockland NY Another mystery boom wakes people in region; Witness report: I went to work just before 5:15 and pulled out of my driveway and drove less then 100 yards when suddenly a light flashed for about 2 seconds. THIS LIGHT WAS BRIGHT AS THE MIDDLE OF THE DAY. Immediatly after the light was gone, i heard the boom and my car shook violently, and my tires crazily vibrated. http://www.lohud.com/article/20090310/NEWS02/903100356/1018/news02 Mar 11 Indonesia Daylight fireball http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt2X_P455yk&feature=related Mar 20 Georgia/Carolinas Morning boom probably meteor, USC-Aiken astronomer says. Dr. Gary Senn, director of the Dupont Planetarium in the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center at USC Aiken, says it was a large meteor, technically called a bolide. He said people have reported the sound to be like a clap of thunder. Sightings were of a large fireball in the sky. http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/latest/lat_500783.shtml Mar 22 Tasmania Australia THE source of a long trail of lights seen by many Tasmanians speeding across the sky yesterday afternoon remained unknown last night."For an object to be this bright, it would typically need to have the mass of a few kilograms. "I understand it was seen for up to about nine seconds which is unusually long for a meteor, but not unknown. http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2009/03/22/62721_todays-news.html Mar 24 Hawaii Ewa Beach by Westloch Fairways. Fireball lights up sky. At approximately 9:15 p.m. Saw the same type of thing (as the feb 9 Hawaii event) on that evening, heading in approximately that same direction and angle. http://www.topix.com/forum/science/T1PMGN78HPT6KJDGH (feb 9 event:) http://www.starbulletin.com/news/20090220_Fireball_lights_up_sky_and_causes_jaws_to_drop.html Mar 29 Virginia US: Multiple Eyewitness Reports of Fireball Sightings off Atlantic Coast. at approximately 9:45 pm EDT, people along the Atlantic coast of the USA between Maryland and North Carolina witnessed bright lights in the sky and heard thunderous rumbles. It was probably a meteoritic fireball--a small, random asteroid entering Earth's atmosphere and exploding. http://www.sott.net/articles/show/180387-US-Multiple-Eyewitness-Reports-of-Fireball-Sightings-off-Atlantic-Coast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzGg1awug3Q There are 3 reasons why I think there is indeed an increase in occurancies: 1)The amsmeteors site shows a steady increase in reported fireballs over the past 4 years. http://www.amsmeteors.org/fireballs.html and to a great extend this increase can be due to the reasons you mention (more people having internet, higher meteor popularity etc), but can you prove that ALL the increase can be attributed to that? 2)This spanish site uses the same allsky camera viewing set since 2005 and also shows an increase in sightings (scroll down to bottom); http://www.spmn.uji.es/ESP/SPMNlist.html Events brighter than mag -10: 2005 5 2006 3 2007 11 2008 27 3)Matthias B?rmann already posted this (in German) http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wissen/678/462297/text/ which he kindly summarized in: "Refering to Nasa expert David Morrison an increasing accumulation of meteoritical material in the mud-layer at the deep sea bottom proves that our solar system passes through a region of denser space-traffic during the last few years." Any comments on these supposed proofs for the increase are welcome. Daphne -- rocks wrote : It looks like we're on track to have one meteorite per month: Oct. Sudan (2008 TC3) Nov. Buzzard Coulee Dec. Tamdakht Jan. Denmark Feb. West Mar. Augusta, GA? One per month is a great fall rate, and I hope they keep coming! Still, I don't think this activity is high enough to support your theory of a debris cloud. Notice that the 5 most recent confirmed falls have been 5 different types: Sudan is ureilite, Buzzard Coulee is H4, Tamdakht is H5, Denmark is a carbonaceous chondrite, and West is L6. How would your theory support such a variety of incoming material? My theory: more fireballs and meteorites are getting reported, but that doesn't necessarily mean more fireballs and meteorites are occuring. I'd like to make 4 points: 1. Each year, the Earth's population increases. 2. More people are learning about what meteorites are, thanks to mainstream TV shows on the History Channel, etc. 3. More people are learning that meteorites are worth big $$$, thanks to news coverage. 4. Each year, more and more people are getting connected to the internet. Put all of this together, and you have: more people + more awareness + more motivation + a global way to get news out. Personally, I think this explains the higher number of fireballs and witnessed falls getting reported each year. I'd like to know what others think about this. I'd also say that over the past year or two, the meteorite collecting community has become much more focused on witnessed falls and hammers. This means we're not letting any suspected falls get overlooked. If this Georgia fireball had happened a few years ago, would it have gotten this much attention on the list? All the best- --Noah ----- Original Message ----- From: "Meteorites USA" <eric at mete...> To: <meteorite-list at mete...> Sent: Monday, March 30, 2009 11:22 AM Subject: [meteorite-list] Fireballs From The Sky: Bombarded > Over the past few months or so I've been tracking many fireball sightings > and suspected new falls all over the world. Recently we've had no fewer > than 4 right here in the United States. Not to mention the Denmark fall, > Tamdaught, West, Westchester, Augusta, Sacramento, and the Merced > Fireball. And the largest meteorite fall in Canadian history Buzzard > Coulee! I'm sure I'm forgetting some. > > Now another big event near MD, VA area: > http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1636442 > <http://www.wtop.com/?nid=600&sid=1636442> > > I asked this a week or so ago, but got very little response other than > "yeah sure". > > Isn't this abnormally high meteor activity? Is our planet traveling > through a large field of asteroidal space debris right now? How can some > many fireballs and meteorite falls happen in such a short period of time > unless this were the case? > > Regards, > Eric Wichman > Meteorites USA > > > ______________________________________________ > http://www.meteoritecentral.com > Meteorite-list mailing list > Meteorite-list at mete... > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list ______________________________________________ http://www.meteoritecentral.com Meteorite-list mailing list Meteorite-list at mete... http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list -- This message was sent on behalf of daphnelwest at gmail.com at openSubscriber.com http://www.opensubscriber.com/message/meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com/11810716.htmlReceived on Wed 01 Apr 2009 09:03:24 AM PDT |
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