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Showing posts with label asteroids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label asteroids. Show all posts

Four East Coast Fireball Sightings In One Night

Earlier this week the East Coast and Midwest area of the United States experienced a rare event of FOUR great balls of fire light up the sky within a 5 hour period. The fireballs, all occurring within one and a half hours of each other, were spotted by over 500 witnesses.

Heat Map Showing Fireball Locations

 American Meteor Society reports from the events:
Multiple fireball events in single evenings are not very common, and some have speculated that the four pieces could have broken off a parent body. The American Meteor Society disagrees with this theory, and suggests that based analysis of time, proximity and pointing data gathered, the fireballs are each an unrelated, unique event.

Earth Narrowly Escapes Asteroid Death Three Times This Week

Photographer: Andreus Agency: Dreamstime.com
Ok, so it wasn't that critical, but space around Earth has been busy this week! A chunk of space rock the size of a garbage truck barely missed Earth yesterday (March 6) making it the third asteroid flyby in the last 24 hours. How close was it? It came about six times closer than the orbit of the moon, or 38,300 miles away.

The 25-foot-wide asteroid 2014 EC that almost crash landed on Earth wasn't as big as the 100-foot asteroid 2014 DX110 which swung by on Wednesday at 217,000 miles away. It is estimated that the chances of these asteroids hitting us are slim at about 1 in over 2 million, but sometimes I feel that's the story they tell us so we don't flip out and start looting.

Will a giant meteor take us out in a fiery blaze one day? Only time will tell, but researchers are pushing for more funds and new fangled equipment to aid the hunt for asteroids near Earth. They have already found thousands and estimate that there are thousands more. Hmm, maybe we should also invest in a disintegration ray if they get too close?

More on the Recent Flybys From Space.com

Small Asteroid Gives Earth a Close Shave, 3rd in 2 Days
http://m.space.com/24968-small-asteroid-2014ec-earth-close-shave.html

Again! New Asteroid Only 44,000 Miles From Earth's Surface | Orbit Animation
http://m.space.com/24945-again-new-asteroid-only-44-000-miles-from-earth-s-surface-orbit-animation.html

100-Foot Asteroid Buzzing Earth Today, Is Closer Than the Moon
http://m.space.com/24928-asteroid-buzzes-earth-today-webcast-2014dx110.html