fireball

Hey! That’s my fireball!

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Fireball image captured at 11:36 PM EDT, August 11, 2020 by Hiram’s NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera. The time stamp in the camera image reads 03:36 UTC — Coordinated Universal Time — which converts to 11:36 PM EDT. Credit: NASA

 

by James Guilford

Hey! That’s my fireball!!

I had stepped outdoors to check the sky (hoping to see at least one Perseid Meteor) and witnessed a fireball  at 11:36 PM; it was captured by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera system hosted by Hiram College. That was the first time I had spotted a meteor that was also captured by the automated camera. The “shooting star” is not very impressive in the picture but it was a beauty by eye, glowing brightly and leaving a long “smoke trail” as it traveled from south to north.

Below is a summary of the data the NASA system was able to derive from Hiram, Oberlin College, and Allegheny Observatory imagery. Rather than a Perseids meteor, it was classified as an Alpha Capricornids meteor — that shower peaked in late July.

Data Summary for the fireball recorded at 11:36 PM EDT, August 11, 2020. Credit: NASA

 

If you are interested in NASA’s All-Sky Fireball Network, here’s a link to their website. Meteor data are updated daily with image captures and event summaries. Hiram’s is one of 17 all-sky cameras located in the continental U.S. https://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov.

On August 13, 2013, Hiram College became the host for one of NASA’s All-Sky Camera Fireball Network stations, Oberlin College and Allegheny Observatory joining with us. The automated camera system watches the sky every night for exceptionally-bright meteors called fireballs.

James Guilford operates Stephens Memorial Observatory for the Physics Department of Hiram College.

 

Early-morning fireball lights our sky

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Image: A bright fireball meteor streak captured by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network Camera located at Hiram College.
A bright fireball meteor streak captured by the NASA All Sky Fireball Network Camera located at Hiram College.

 
Did you see it? Our NASA All Sky Fireball Network camera picked up a pretty decent meteor streak in the wee hours (2:33 AM) this morning. It would have been a bit chilly to sit up all night watching ourselves, but the camera system operates all night, every clear night to record meteoric activity. Learn more here: https://fireballs.ndc.nasa.gov/

Yard-wide meteor raised alerts across the Great Lakes Region

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UPDATE: On January 18, the American Meteor Society reported two meteorites from the January 16 were found in Michigan. Congratulations to Robert Ward and Larry Atkins on the first two reported finds. The two pieces were black, about the size of driveway gravel stones.

 

A brilliant meteor flashed across the skies of the Great Lakes Region of the U.S. Tuesday night ending with two brilliant flashes and loud booms. People reacted with delight and alarm, some calling emergency services after witnessing the event. Officials quickly identified the source as a good-sized meteor entering Earth’s atmosphere, flaring and exploding as a fireball-bolide (brilliant, exploding meteor). Here’s what we know, courtesy of William Cooke, Ph.D., NASA Meteoroid Environment Office. This statement has been edited and updated from social media posts made by Dr. Cooke. — ed.

A very bright fireball (possible superbolide, which has a brightness between that of the Full Moon and the Sun) was seen in the Michigan, Ohio, Illinois region Tuesday night, January 16, at 8:08:30 PM EST. Preliminary information indicates that this meteoroid/small asteroid entered the atmosphere above the southeastern part of Michigan, just to the northwest of Detroit. The fireball was so bright that it was seen through clouds by our meteor camera located at Oberlin College, about 120 miles away.

 

Photo: A fireball meteor (bright dot in the upper-right of this image) glowed brilliantly northwest of Detroit, Michigan, and was imaged by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera at Oberlin College in Northeastern Ohio.
A fireball meteor (bright dot in the upper-right of this image) flared brilliantly northwest of Detroit, Michigan, as it shot through the atmosphere. Here the event is shown as imaged by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera at Oberlin College in Northeastern Ohio. The camera system located at Hiram College recorded a flash in the clouds close to the horizon but was a bit too far away for a better look. Courtesy: NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO)

 

A fireball meteor (bright dot in the upper-right of this image) flared brilliantly northwest of Detroit, Michigan, as it shot through the atmosphere. Here the event is shown as imaged by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera at Oberlin College in Northeastern Ohio. The camera system located at Hiram College recorded a flash in the clouds close to the horizon but was a bit too far away for a better look. Courtesy: NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO)
Courtesy: NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO)

 

We have calculated that this was a very slow moving meteor – speed of about 28,000 miles per hour. This fact, combined with the brightness of the meteor (which suggests a fairly big space rock at least a yard across), shows that the object penetrated deep into the atmosphere before it broke apart (which produced the sounds heard by many observers). It is likely that there are meteorites on the ground near this region – one of our colleagues at Johnson Space Center has found a Doppler weather radar signature characteristic of meteoritic material falling to earth.

Pieces of an asteroid lying near Detroit? Let’s see what the meteorite hunters find.

Peaking this weekend: Orionid meteors aplenty!

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Photo: Fireball Meteor, Oct. 20, 2017. Credit: NASA/All-Sky Fireball Network
A Grand Orionid Fireball Meteor Imaged over Hiram Friday, October 20. Credit: NASA/All-Sky Fireball Network
Earth is entering a stream of debris from Halley’s Comet, source of the annual Orionid meteor shower. Thursday night, NASA’s network of all-sky meteor cameras detected 23 Orionid fireballs over the USA –meteors that flare brighter than the planet Venus shines– a result of comet dust hitting the atmosphere at speeds exceeding 65 km/s (145,000 mph). Among several fireballs recorded by the Fireball Network camera on the Hiram campus was the grand meteoric streak pictured above; that fireball was also recorded by the camera located at the Allegheny Observatory in Pittsburgh in the wee hours of Friday morning. Forecasters expect the shower to peak on Oct. 21-22 with as many as 25 meteors per hour. The meteor shower is called “Orionid” because the “falling stars” appear to originate from the vicinity of our sky occupied constellation Orion. Visit Spaceweather.com for observing tips and sky maps. — From a report by Spaceweather.com plus local contribution.

Weather conditions may be best for us overnight Friday as the Orionids shower builds towards its peak. https://www.accuweather.com/
Weather conditions may be best for us overnight Friday as the Orionids shower builds towards its peak. https://www.accuweather.com/

Fireball meteor recorded over Hiram

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Photo: A Bright Meteor - a Fireball - Recorded over Hiram April 23, 2017. Image Credit: NASA/MEO
A Bright Meteor – a Fireball – Recorded over Hiram April 23, 2017. Image Credit: NASA/MEO

 

An exceptionally bright and long-lasting fireball meteor was recorded early Sunday morning by the NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera situated on the campus of Hiram College. The event took place at 5:09 AM EDT, April 23, the meteor streaking from south to north as it burned up entering Earth’s atmosphere. Several other fireball meteors were also recorded during during the night but this was the brightest of the bunch. A fireball is a meteor that glows brighter than the planet Venus. NASA uses data collected from Hiram’s camera along with that from other systems in the network to learn about micrometeorites and their threat to spacecraft. Fireball Network images and data are available to astronomers and to the general public alike, and are updated daily.  Click here to visit the All-Sky Fireball Network website.

Fireball seen over Hiram the night of June 11

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Photo: Fireball Recorded June 11, 2016, at 10:17 PM EDT. Credit: NASA
Fireball Recorded June 11, 2016, at 10:17 PM EDT – Bright patch is the Moon – Credit: NASA

 

The NASA All-Sky Fireball Network camera at Hiram College captured the passage of a very bright meteor over Hiram on June 11 at 10:17 PM. The extremely bright meteor or “fireball” was also recorded by the NASA camera located on the campus of Oberlin College. Fireballs are meteors that flare brighter than the planet Venus shines. It is likely the glowing streak seen here was caused by a bit of material, possibly the size of a tiny pebble, vaporizing as it crashed into Earth’s upper atmosphere at extreme speed. A witness to the event wrote, “I never saw anything like this one… It was beautiful.”

Perseid meteor shower a good show

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Photo: 2015 Perseids meteor shower imaged over five hours by Scott MacNeill
2015 Perseids Peak by Scott MacNeill, Frosty Drew Observatory, Charlestown, Rhode Island – http://exitpupil.org/

For those with a dark site from which to watch, and the patience to “wait for it…” the 2015 Perseids meteor shower was a good show. Reports from around the world noted substantial numbers of “shooting star” sightings. In the Northeastern Ohio area, amateurs reported from 25 to as many as 57 meteors per hour from good viewing locations. Local observers reported seeing persistent trains, greenish colors, and even flares from some meteors.

The NASA All-Sky “Fireball Network” recorded hundreds of meteors during the event peak, the night of August 12 to 13. “The Perseid shower last night was an almost perfect combinations of circumstances – no Moon, decent shower rates, and clear skies over much of the network,” wrote Dr. Bill Cooke, Meteoroid Environments Office, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center.

Photo: Long Trail of a Perseid Fireball Recorded at 9:42 PM, August 12 via NASA All-Sky Fireball Network
Long Trail of a Perseid Fireball Recorded at 9:42 PM EDT, August 12

The Fireball Network camera system located on the campus of Hiram College recorded a good number of fireballs — meteors brighter than the planet Venus — overnight including several that appeared directly overhead and at least one that appears to have ended in a flare … a bolide. In the images we have posted here, the top of the photo is north and the bottom is south.

Photo: Apparent Perseid Bolide over Hiram at 2:59 AM EDT. NASA All-Sky Fireball Network
Apparent Perseid Bolide over Hiram at 2:59 AM EDT, August 13

The Perseid meteors are associated with the stream of dusty debris called the Perseid cloud and stretches along the orbit of the comet Swift–Tuttle. Meteors appear when Earth passes through the dust cloud and bits of cometary material plunge into the atmosphere where friction heats and vaporizes them. The debris particles enter Earth’s atmosphere at around 35 miles per second and most are about the size of grains of sand. The name of the shower is derived from the fact that the meteors, if traced back along their paths, appear to radiate from the constellation Perseus.