The One
25th February 2012, 08:34
TH-qxcixRU8
“A strange breed of fireball is streaking through the skies this month, and NASA is urging folks on the ground to take notice.
February’s fireballs — a term that describes meteors that appear brighter in the sky than Venus — aren’t more numerous than normal, but their appearance and trajectory are odd, experts say.
“These fireballs are particularly slow and penetrating,” meteor expert Peter Brown, a physics professor at the University of Western Ontario, said in a statement. “They hit the top of the atmosphere moving slower than 15 kilometers per second (33,500 mph), decelerate rapidly and make it to within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Earth’s surface.”
The month’s fireball action began on Feb. 1, when a meteor lit up the skies over central Texas, putting on a dazzling show for people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“It was brighter and long-lasting than anything I’ve seen before,” said witness Daryn Morran. “The fireball took about eight seconds to cross the sky. I could see the fireball start to slow down; then it exploded like a firecracker artillery shell into several pieces, flickered a few more times and then slowly burned out.”
The fireball was about as bright as the full moon, and was spotted by NASA cameras in New Mexico, more than 500 miles (805 km) away. It was likely caused by an object 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) wide, NASA researchers said.
And the meteors have kept coming, well into February.”
Read more http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46505241/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T0dRgPEgeDs
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/mystballbr.php
“A strange breed of fireball is streaking through the skies this month, and NASA is urging folks on the ground to take notice.
February’s fireballs — a term that describes meteors that appear brighter in the sky than Venus — aren’t more numerous than normal, but their appearance and trajectory are odd, experts say.
“These fireballs are particularly slow and penetrating,” meteor expert Peter Brown, a physics professor at the University of Western Ontario, said in a statement. “They hit the top of the atmosphere moving slower than 15 kilometers per second (33,500 mph), decelerate rapidly and make it to within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Earth’s surface.”
The month’s fireball action began on Feb. 1, when a meteor lit up the skies over central Texas, putting on a dazzling show for people in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
“It was brighter and long-lasting than anything I’ve seen before,” said witness Daryn Morran. “The fireball took about eight seconds to cross the sky. I could see the fireball start to slow down; then it exploded like a firecracker artillery shell into several pieces, flickered a few more times and then slowly burned out.”
The fireball was about as bright as the full moon, and was spotted by NASA cameras in New Mexico, more than 500 miles (805 km) away. It was likely caused by an object 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) wide, NASA researchers said.
And the meteors have kept coming, well into February.”
Read more http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46505241/ns/technology_and_science-space/#.T0dRgPEgeDs
http://www.messagetoeagle.com/mystballbr.php