Video of hugh fireball

Some think this brilliant fireball may have been a small asteroid.

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8714738

Perseids what a hype and what a bust

I've been watching meteors for years so I guess when the skies are clear, whether cold or warm, I will try, as I have done over the years despite the hype. The hype of the Perseid meteor shower, this year , was nerve racking.

It was clear over Kansas for the most part but the Moon was keeping many of the faint ones. I don't care about seeing the faint ones, all I look forward is a few bright ones to remember.
I only could compare this Perseid hype to Comet Kohoutek when much is expected but little if nothing is delivered. Not only were two maximum dates expected but the extra bombardment was supposed to happen either later evening and/or early morning. This was compounded by observers seeing a lot (which led me to believe what are they smoking anyway) or literally nothing (my case).
A human eye can see so much and when the hype media says 100- 200 meteors per hour these are expectations not realizations. You are not going to go out and see fireballs falling around you. If you are lucky you can see one or two bring ones or some every few minutes at the peak.
I gave it a go one more time.
In Olathe, KS (near Kansas City), the Moon was finally setting a little lower so that the sky was darker in the area of the NE and the constellatioin Perseus. It was far better than last years Full Moon but up until now seeing the meteors was still disconcerting. However supposedly there was to be another "spike". So instead of going to bed, I go out my sleeping bag and waited, again.

In an hour , with clear skies, all I saw was 8 Perseids. But all except one was pretty bright.
The best was a short yellow Perseid at zero magnitude (not quite a fireball) , that left a nice 0.75 train (smoke trail). There were 2 fireballs (yellow and yellow-white) at -2 that were 25 degrees long and pretty. So at least I saw something.

But an all sky camera can see much more over time. Ths spectacular photo shows dozens. There is on that stands out and I wish the author would have said more how bright this particular wide bright one was.
8/14/09
can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one
http://spaceweather.com/

"Flakey" Halley's Comet meteors can be seen Wednesday morning

Comets leave behind small particles in space. The space in the sky is defined by the orbit that trails near the Earth. When the Earth enters the orbital area left behind by the comets,  these particles enter the atmosphere and can be seen as "meteors" which streak across the sky. Wednesday night is the best time to see these Eta Aquarid meteors from the Southern or Northern Hemisphere. More here at

http://www.spaceweather.com/meteors/etaaquarids/etaaquarids.html?PHPSESSID=ieuk71al9nvuugd21q3gej8815

Fireball reports 3/29/2009

http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/fireballreports_29mar09.htm?PHPSESSID=bkvvltgm95bshs2q9063i8ifj1

Another fireball this time over New England

Another fireball streaked through the sky , this time over New England. Here is a plot of the reports and more information including accounts.
12/31/08
http://www.spaceweather.com/

can't find it? use the archives and go to earlier date other then this one

try to look for bright Geminid meteors starting tonight until this weekend

Yes that moon is bright over in the West near sunrise. It is located near the radiant (Gemini) before sunrise washing out everything in the sky particularly in the West but....

I stepped outside 6:10 Central am to get the newspaper. Well I happened to look up at the right time and saw a nice fat, yellow, zero magnitude Geminid flying across the Big Dipper.

Remember the brightest ones might be coming around 9 pm Earthgrazers so watch for them Dec 12- 14) Friday, Sat (Maxiumum) and Sunday night. These can appear all over the sky and are usually very long, very bright and can appear even in the areas that areas that are washed ouot by the moon. I am more interested in seeing the bright ones any way because those are the ones to remember this (and other showers ) yearly event.

Hope you see some. Please report any you see.

A spectacular (Perseid ) earthgrazer skimmed across the atmosphere near the Grand Tetons in August , 1972. Luckily it was caught on film.
Here is the link to see the video.
If you have not seen it before , the time has come

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=503_1215418331

Scientists find meteor debris in Canada after that huge fireball

The many videos floating on the youtube about this brilliant fireball now has another part to the story. Meteorites have been recovered.
see PHOTOS
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/28/AR2008112801930.html

Leonids and Light pillars

The Leonid meteor shower peaked on the morning of 11/17/2008. While many in Asia and Europe saw significant higher then average meteoric rates, in Kansas I saw nothing due to clouds. I did however see one nice Leonid the morning before.
While that phenomenon was in the atmosphere, Light pillars danced in the sky lower to the Earth. They appear like ice crystal laden auroras but they are not.
http://www.spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=22&month=11&year=2008

European Taurid fireball lights up the sky

The low file Taurid meteor shower is putting out some fireballs for the next few days after midnight. Here is several photos of one that lit up the sky. It was about as bright as the moon.
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Roman-Piffl-tau_20081105_204238_5D_1225929890.jpg

Beautiful fireball photo

Once in awhile you might see a brilliant fireball light up the sky. Here is a great photo of one taken at a star party


Beautiful Fireball photo
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap081011.html