Stargazing and Space Exploration

[TheLocalYokel]

New 'fireball' meteor spotted days after South West 'sonic boom'

Last week, hundreds of people took to social media to share videos and pictures of the fireball over the West Country

www.bristolpost.co.uk

A couple of fireball meteors apparently reported over the UK recently.

When I was growing up in the Somerset countryside in the 1950s I was fascinated by 'shooting stars'. There was little light pollution in rural areas then and on a clear night the sky was one huge aerial tapestry of twinkling lights.

Since those days opportunities for stargazing have been limited and it's not something I spend a lot of time on now. However, I've long been interested by the Tunguska Event in Eastern Siberia on 30 June 1908. On that morning the largest asteroid impact in recorded history occurred. It was in a remote, sparsely populated region of Siberia. The explosion flattened around 80 million trees over an area of 830 square miles.

Witnesses reported seeing a fireball followed by a flash and noise like artillery fire with powerful shock waves that broke windows and knocked people off their feet hundreds of miles away.

There was no crater and it's believed the asteroid didn't actually strike Earth but exploded as an air burst three to six miles above the Earth's surface.

There were reports that in London the following night it was possible to read unaided in the middle of the night such was the brightness of the sky.

The first scientific expedition didn't reach the area until 1927 and since then there have been many studies and scientific papers published, mainly in Russia.

Later conspiracy theories included contact with an alien spaceship and a nuclear explosion pre-dating the Manhatten Project of World War 2.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

 

[Kevin Farnell]

New 'fireball' meteor spotted days after South West 'sonic boom'

Last week, hundreds of people took to social media to share videos and pictures of the fireball over the West Country

www.bristolpost.co.uk

A couple of fireball meteors apparently reported over the UK recently.

When I was growing up in the Somerset countryside in the 1950s I was fascinated by 'shooting stars'. There was little light pollution in rural areas then and on a clear night the sky was one huge aerial tapestry of twinkling lights.

Since those days opportunities for stargazing have been limited and it's not something I spend a lot of time on now. However, I've long been interested by the Tunguska Event in Eastern Siberia on 30 June 1908. On that morning the largest asteroid impact in recorded history occurred. It was in a remote, sparsely populated region of Siberia. The explosion flattened around 80 million trees over an area of 830 square miles.

Witnesses reported seeing a fireball followed by a flash and noise like artillery fire with powerful shock waves that broke windows and knocked people off their feet hundreds of miles away.

There was no crater and it's believed the asteroid didn't actually strike Earth but exploded as an air burst three to six miles above the Earth's surface.

There were reports that in London the following night it was possible to read unaided in the middle of the night such was the brightness of the sky.

The first scientific expedition didn't reach the area until 1927 and since then there have been many studies and scientific papers published, mainly in Russia.

Later conspiracy theories included contact with an alien spaceship and a nuclear explosion pre-dating the Manhatten Project of World War 2.

| EarthSky

earthsky.org

I too have long been fascinated by the Tunguska event. I think I first heard about it through the TV series 'Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World' for which I also have the book (somewhere). My view is that it's most likely an asteroid and an air burst at that. I believe that an airburst occurs due to the speed of the asteroid and the density of the atmosphere. The speed increases the pressure on the asteroid, as it falls into increasingly dense air. When the air density matches that of the asteroid, it explodes. This is the reason, if you watch a rocket launch, early in the launch the rocket will throttle back for a short period. This is when the rocket is still in a dense atmosphere and to continue acceleration would put extremely dangerous aerodynamic forces on the rocket.
All I can say is that I'm pleased that the event happened over Tunguska, a very very sparsely populated region. Had this happened over a major city, the destruction and death toll would have been horrendous.
There have been several 'fireball' meteorites filmed in recent years. I remember one over Russia a few years back that did damage to buildings. These are more frequent than a lot of people realise, but fortunately are small enough that the burn up higher in the atmosphere.

Kevin

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Fragments of the Meteorite found -

Gloucestershire meteorite is first UK find in 30 years

Fragments are recovered from the blazing fireball that lit up the sky above England last month.

www.bbc.co.uk

Kevin

 

[JENNYJET]

One question comes to mind, Did the Mars rocket disturb the asteroid belt, can't remember if it lies between Earth and Mars?

 

[Kevin Farnell]

One question comes to mind, Did the Mars rocket disturb the asteroid belt, can't remember if it lies between Earth and Mars?

The asteroid belt lies outs of Mars' orbit so I doubt that the rocket would have caused any disturbance to it.

Kevin

 

[JENNYJET]

Always good for an answer is our Kevin, many thanks!

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Mars Ingenuity Helicopter makes First Flight

Mars Ingenuity Helicopter makes the first ever powered flight on another planet.

Kevin

 

[JENNYJET]

I attempted to observe the eclipse yesterday but failed miserably, partly because of my medical issues, what remaining sight I retain I intend to keep. I did not detect a dip in light and transient cloud did little to help.

Did it happen?

 

[Scottie Dog]

I attempted to observe the eclipse yesterday but failed miserably, partly because of my medical issues, what remaining sight I retain I intend to keep. I did not detect a dip in light and transient cloud did little to help.

Did it happen?

Don't worry you were not the only person to miss it. We were out walking alongside the river Derwent in Cumbria and at the due time, were under the cover of trees.
We'll just have to wait for the next one.

 

[Aviador]

Amber alert for Northern lights visible from parts of Northern England just now.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Amber alert for Northern lights visible from parts of Northern England just now.

I saw them once, in the West Midlands. I was working at Aston University and a group of us had gone to Tipton to Mad O'Rourkes 'The Pie Factory' (a great pub, that serves 'Desperate Dan Cow Pies' and their own brewed 'Lump-hammer Ale'). When we came out, and looked up, the clear sky was awash with a swirling white mist (I was driving, so had only had one beer, early in the evening). I was still living at my parent's at the time, and woke my Dad up to come and see the spectacle (I knew he would be interested).
I hope they show up for those of you in the north. Certainly worth seeing.

Kevin

 

[Scottie Dog]

Shame I'm currently in over-lit Warrington at present. The darkness of our caravan site in the North Lakes would be ideal.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Amber alert for Northern lights visible from parts of Northern England just now.

Did you get to see anything?

Kevin

 

[Aviador]

No not this time. We had some slight cloud cover. I have had the privilege of seeing it back in the 90s. It was truly amazing.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Sorry to read that you didn't get to see it this time, but I'm pleased that you've seen it in the past. As you say, it's truly amazing.

Kevin

 

[Aviador]

It was here in the UK where I saw it and it was far better than most of the pictures you see on Google. I remember seeing a huge spectrum of different colours from blue through to pink and greens. The display was right across the whole sky from directly above and then across to the North. It was exciting but scary at the same time. It lasted probably for about 5 minutes before it fluttered away. I do think if it was that strong again we would see it through light cloud.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

I've just had a walk to the village shop and a clear sky afforded a wonderful view of the Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus all lined up on the ecliptic plane. Venus looks huge at the moment (although by 6pm, it will be below the horizon), I'm assuming that it's at or near to it's closest approach to Earth.
A similar view should be possible tomorrow (weather permitting), but to see Venus, you'll need to be looking as soon as it gets dark.

Kevin

 

[Aviador]

Thanks Kevin I will be looking out for it tomorrow. Also while on this thread I understand there is another CME heading towards Earth so the Northern Light are likely to ve visible once again for many in the Northern hemisphere.

 

[Kevin Farnell]

Here's a view of the Moon and Planetary line up as it appeared at 5:14pm from my vantage point, just north of Cambridge.

The screenshot was taken with the excellent FREE software 'Stellarium', which is available for Windows, Mac and Linux from -

Stellarium Home Page

Kevin

 

[Scottie Dog]

Many thanks Kevin. I really must get my telescope out for winter use. My only problem is the amount of unwanted street lights - although the lamps unfortunately do not appear to highlight dog muck on the pavements!