Jo, E.T. is not a pet!

[Java]

They really do want him back... alive!!

Joking aside, actually what I'm posting about is what seems to be an increase in fireballs reported lately within the past year or so. Either we are seeing more of these or more people with cameras are recording them as they hit the earth's atmosphere. As of yet I have not figured out which it is or whether its both.

Here is the latest movie clip of the fireball reported throughout much of Scandinavia. This movie was recorded on January 17, 2009 by an automated video camera belonging to Roger Svensson in Sweden.

http://sydsvenskan.se/webbtv/article...context=webbtv

What is really cool is how it lit up the whole night time sky like daylight as this large meteor entered the earth's atmosphere and then exploded somewhere above ground with a thunderous boom. I'm assuming there are a number of folks out there now searching for meteorite fragments in the snow as these can be worth a good bit of money as well as providing great ancient and pristine material for research into the origins of the solar system and what the earliest materials in the solar system were made of.

...or it could have been a fragment blasted off of another planet, moon, or asteroid that was hit by an even larger impactor sometime in the past, although nobody will be closer to knowing this until a sample is retrieved and analysed.

[tiger_rascal]

That is so cool.

[Java]

Wow! Another huge fireball lit up the skies over western Norway at 16:28 UT (January 19th, 2009) and was last seen disintegrating over the North Sea. That makes two within 48 hours over Scandinavia! Right now I am waiting for someone to post a video of this one too.

Jo, you had better hurry up and let E.T. go! They are still looking for him!!!

Anyway, here is a list of search terms to type into Google to see the latest report: Mandag 19/1 meteor kl. 17.28 - This will produce a report in Norweigian but Google can sort of translate it in into English.

... and I am still waiting for a video of this one too.

[Java]

Jo, E.T. is not a pet! I think they mean business now - they really do want him back... alive!!

[Java]

On a more serious note, does anyone remember when Comet 17P/Holmes exploded (or was impacted by an asteroid) back in October of 2007, and the expanding debris field that was seen for months afterwards? Just wondering... I know that solar radiation will help deflect and push the smaller particles away from the sun but the larger chunks, well... the sunlight will have had little effect. I suspect that somebody somewhere has already done calculations on the trajectories of all this expanding debris field as it gets larger while orbiting the sun, and it is probably classified material. I wonder if we are beginning to see the first of these fragments entering into the gravity wells of the inner planets (including Earth) now? If so, I sure would not want to be an astronaut aboard the largest target orbiting the Earth right now

[Java]

From: spaceweather.com (posted briefly on Jan 23, 2009)

"FIREBALL SIGHTING: Observers in Massachusetts and Rhode Island 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. Readers, if you saw or photographed the event, please submit a report."

[Java]

From: spaceweather.com (January 24, 2009 archive)

MASSPIKE FIREBALL: Last night a meteoroid of unknown size hit Earth's atmosphere over New England. Its bright, blue-green disintegration startled motorists driving along the Massachusetts Turnpike and surrounding areas: eye-witness accounts.

Now there are some eye-witness accounts accumulating.

[lil kim]

[tiger_rascal]

http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/39616737.html

[Java]

Check spaceweather.com for updates as evidence reported so far does not rule out a meteoric origin, as least until the US Strategic Command issues a statement linking the fireballs to radar-tracked satellite debris.

Oh, I just remembered your sister has keraunothetophobia too!

[Java]

Looks like we're having fireball mania now, adding to the list one that was visible in daylight during the Austin marathon in Texas (with a video too) plus a really bright one witnessed in Italy (photo) all currently at spaceweather.com, and if you're late reading this here spaceweather does have archives you can check out.

A curious note is that all these fireballs reported thus far have been seen in the northern hemisphere - the same hemisphere which faces the direction of the Comet 17P/Holmes 'explosion' not too long ago. Hmmm... but then again there is much more population and land mass in the northern hemisphere too. But if the Comet 17P/Holmes 'explosion' is the source of some of these, only the largest will have arrived first, then to be followed by the much more many smaller fragments that have been somewhat slowed down by solar radiation pressure for the past year and a half or so. So, if in the future we begin to start seeing meteor storms of smaller fragments night after night after night, then its a good bet that Comet 17P/Holmes 'explosion' is where they originated.

[tiger_rascal]

Java, is there a lot of activity in the sky lately?

When I left work tonight a co-worker and myself saw what looked like lightening in the sky! Just a quick white flash. But it couldnt have been lightening. The weather is not favorable for lightening.

[Java]

"222 Baker Street" produces interesting search results which include 221 b Baker Street and 222 b Baker Street too... so I deduce that Dr Watson and Sherlock Holmes lived in a rather uncertain domain.

...and putting this into layman's terms, I'm still trying to figure this one out too!