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Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Great Meteor of 2013 Over Chelyabinsk, Russia, Just Before Dawn
I thought I'd have a little fun with a compendium of videos of the Great Chelyabinsk Meteor that fell just before dawn on February 15th in the Ural Mountains, 940 miles east of Russia. What do you think?
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Sunday, February 17, 2013
Panorama of the Chelyabinsk Fireball Smoke Trail!
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| Panorama of the Chelyabinsk Fireball as it fell to earth on February 15, 2013. This is the smoke train left behind as the meteoroid, travelling at 40,000 mph, was incinerated by friction from the earth's atmosphere. The great heat, together with the huge differential pressure between the front and back of the meteoroid, caused it to explode about 12-15 miles above the earth. Click for full-size view. |
There is now speculation that the meteoroid may have been cometary in nature due to the bright white color of its trail, indicating water vapor rather than smoke arising from seared rock or metal. In addition, the trajectory, a pair of trails close together, spreading out, then comping back together is indicative of an object smoking from two ends of a single projectile, not one that blew apart. If it had blown apart it would not be seen to merge again later.
So, for now this meteoroid is speculated to be an icy, cometary body emitting steam from two ends as it is heated in the earth's atmosphere, spinning as it falls to earth.
/Ira
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Update on Chelyabinsk, Russia Meteor
The meteor that crashed near Chelyabinsk, Russia on Feb. 15, 2013 was about 50 now 55 feet in diameter when it entered the earth's atmosphere at an angle of 20 degrees to the horizon, moving at a speed of some 40,000 MPH and is estimated to have weighed 10,000 tons and delivered an explosive force of 300 now 500 kilotons of TNT, about 15x 25x the explosive force of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, ending WWII. It was about 1/3rd the size of mini-asteroid 2012 DA14 that coincidentally swept by the earth that same day at a distance of 17,200 miles. Although the chances of both coming so close to earth on the same day were minuscule, according to NASA the two were unrelated since the Chelyabinsk Meteor came from a completely different direction. Over 1,100 people were injured, mostly by breaking glass from the exploding fireball.
It is not uncommon for stony meteors to explode in flight. The Chelyabinsk Meteor exploded into fragments at a height of about 12-15 miles, according to NASA. You can see and hear the explosion in many of the videos that were posted online.
Chelyabinsk is a large industrial city about 920 miles west of Moscow in the Ural Mountains. It is the location of one of only two plutonium processing plants in Russia whose output is used in making nuclear bombs. Had this meteorite struck during the cold war it could have mistakenly triggered nuclear armageddon.
As of this writing the only sign of the meteoroid on the ground is this 30 foot wide hole a fragment of it made in the ice covering Lake Chebarkul near the town of Chelyabinsk. The temperatures here get below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at night, so the ice is probably over 12 inches thick. So far Russian divers have found nothing in the lake, an unfortunate place for a large chunk to have landed since it will quickly become contaminated with debris from earth.
Here is a terminological clarification:
Meteor: A streaking light in the sky, caused by a rock from space burning up as it enters the earth's atmosphere. Also called a "shooting star".
Meteoroid: The rock that burns up in the earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite: What a meteoroid is called when it strikes the earth, leaving pieces of itself behind.
Bolide: A meteor so bright that it can be seen in the daytime.
Fireball: Common name for a bolide.
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| Orbits of asteroid 2012 DA14 and the Chelyabinsk Meteor. The Chelyabinsk Meteor was estimated at 15 feet in diameter (contrary to the caption here), weighing 10,000 tons, entering the earth's atmosphere from the direction of the sun in daylight. NASA has traced it's orbit back originating in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Asteroid 2012 DA 14 was some 3x larger in size, comparable to the size of the Space Shuttle, and passed close by earth at a distance of 17,200 miles, between the ring of orbiting geosynchronous satellites and the surface of our planet. |
It is not uncommon for stony meteors to explode in flight. The Chelyabinsk Meteor exploded into fragments at a height of about 12-15 miles, according to NASA. You can see and hear the explosion in many of the videos that were posted online.
Chelyabinsk is a large industrial city about 920 miles west of Moscow in the Ural Mountains. It is the location of one of only two plutonium processing plants in Russia whose output is used in making nuclear bombs. Had this meteorite struck during the cold war it could have mistakenly triggered nuclear armageddon.
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| Comparison of different size meteors and the damage they can inflict. The Tunguska Event, also in Russia in 1908, destroyed 800 square miles of Siberian Forest. Had it fallen in a populated area it would have been an unparalleled disaster. The 10 kilometer asteroid that fell 65 million years ago in what is now Mexico was a planet killer, wiping out the dinosaurs and some 90% of the species then living. |
As of this writing the only sign of the meteoroid on the ground is this 30 foot wide hole a fragment of it made in the ice covering Lake Chebarkul near the town of Chelyabinsk. The temperatures here get below 0 degrees Fahrenheit at night, so the ice is probably over 12 inches thick. So far Russian divers have found nothing in the lake, an unfortunate place for a large chunk to have landed since it will quickly become contaminated with debris from earth.
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| A thirty-foot hole in Lake Chebarkul marks the landing place of a fragment of the Chelyabinsk Meteorite. |
Here is a terminological clarification:
Meteor: A streaking light in the sky, caused by a rock from space burning up as it enters the earth's atmosphere. Also called a "shooting star".
Meteoroid: The rock that burns up in the earth's atmosphere.
Meteorite: What a meteoroid is called when it strikes the earth, leaving pieces of itself behind.
Bolide: A meteor so bright that it can be seen in the daytime.
Fireball: Common name for a bolide.
Friday, February 15, 2013
OMG!!! Giant Meteorite Strikes Russia! 500 people Reported Injured!!!
On the day of the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14, a giant meteor was seen creating a fireball above the town of Chelyabinsk, Russia in the Ural mountains 950 miles east of Moscow. Five hundred people were reported inured, mostly by flying glass, so far none seriously, as it exploded in the skies above town and crashed to earth nearby.
This is the third time in a little more than 100 years that Russia has been struck by a gigantic meteorite or comet/asteroid. In 1908 a huge comet, some think asteroid, obliterated a large Siberian forest, the Tunguska Event. In 1947, the largest witnessed fall of a meteorite in modern times occurred in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of eastern Siberia, dropping over 100 tons of meteoritic material, and now this event on Feb. 15, 2013, size as yet unknown. This will be a field day for meteorite hunters and scientists. One cannot help but speculate that this event is connected to the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 happening later tonight. It seems too odd to be a coincidence, but lots more work remains to be done.
In the mean time, treat yourselves to this compilation of dashboard videos that show the giant meteor as it passes over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A straight-on view as the meteor roars overhead, followed by earth shattering explosions.
Compilation of dashboard videocams.
Huge explosions in this video!
Student video near university with huge explosions and glass breaking everywhere.
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell on February 12, 1947, strikingly close in time to the fall of today's meteorite, and not that far away in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of eastern Siberia. There were not many cameras around then, but the fall was witnessed by a nearby artist, P.J. Medvedev, who painted a picture that was reproduced in a Soviet Union stamp issued 10 years later to commemorate the event. Much was learned about meteorites from that fall, and even more will be learned from today's.
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This is the third time in a little more than 100 years that Russia has been struck by a gigantic meteorite or comet/asteroid. In 1908 a huge comet, some think asteroid, obliterated a large Siberian forest, the Tunguska Event. In 1947, the largest witnessed fall of a meteorite in modern times occurred in the Sikhote-Alin mountains of eastern Siberia, dropping over 100 tons of meteoritic material, and now this event on Feb. 15, 2013, size as yet unknown. This will be a field day for meteorite hunters and scientists. One cannot help but speculate that this event is connected to the close passage of asteroid 2012 DA14 happening later tonight. It seems too odd to be a coincidence, but lots more work remains to be done.
In the mean time, treat yourselves to this compilation of dashboard videos that show the giant meteor as it passes over Chelyabinsk, Russia.
A straight-on view as the meteor roars overhead, followed by earth shattering explosions.
Compilation of dashboard videocams.
Huge explosions in this video!
Student video near university with huge explosions and glass breaking everywhere.
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| A photo of the Russian meteor fireball as it crashed to earth in Russia on Feb 15, 2013 in Chelyabinsk, Russia. |
The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fell on February 12, 1947, strikingly close in time to the fall of today's meteorite, and not that far away in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of eastern Siberia. There were not many cameras around then, but the fall was witnessed by a nearby artist, P.J. Medvedev, who painted a picture that was reproduced in a Soviet Union stamp issued 10 years later to commemorate the event. Much was learned about meteorites from that fall, and even more will be learned from today's.
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| The Sikhote-Alin meteorite fall of February 12, 1947 was commemorated 10 years later on this Soviet stamp. The artist lived nearby and painted this picture as he witnessed the event. |
Asteroid 2012 DA14 Heading Toward Planet Earth
You've probably been reading about Asteroid 2012 DA14 which is headed for a close encounter with earth this Friday night, February 15th. DA14 is about 150 feet in diameter and will whiz by the earth at a distance of some 17,200 miles, within the ring of geosynchronous satellites that orbit the earth. Yes, this is a close call, but the asteroid will not strike the earth or any satellites in orbit around the earth. So, what will happen as it sails by? Nothing, nothing at all. Call it a close miss. But you will be able to observe this fast moving celestial body from Israel, starting at about 10:00PM local time and lasting through the early hours of Saturday morning.
The chart below shows the expected path of 2012 DA14 through the skies above Israel with time ticks representing Greenwich Mean Time. Add two hours to convert to Israeli local time. Although it will move quickly compared to most celestial bodies because it is so close to earth, you will still not see it move at the speed of a plane or even satellite. As you can see from the chart, it will take over eight hours to go from the tail of Leo to the NorthStar. So, you will only be able to identify it by its motion if you watch for an extended period of time. You will also need binoculars since at a brightness between magnitude 7 and 8 it will not be a naked eye object.
If it's cloudy or you don't want the challenge of finding it outside, many observatories around the world will be live-streaming the event. Israel's own Bareket Observatory is offering a free live webcast of the close approach on February 15 beginning at 10:15 Israeli local time, for a duration of about 3 hours. For more information, visit Baraket Observatory’s website. You’ll be automatically transfered to the live images, during the event.
NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 9:00PM Israeli local time on February 15. The commentary will be streamed live online at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
An object this size, thought to have a mass of 130,000 metric tons, would pack an explosive force of about 2.4 megatons of TNT if it struck the earth. The atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima packed a blast of .02 megatons, so this asteroid could pack a wallop 120x as large as Little Boy. While not a planet killer, like the asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs, it is still something to be reckoned with. Fortunately, over 70% of the earth is water and there are still significant wilderness areas, so chances are it would strike an unpopulated area. Still it would be difficult to predict its actual strike zone, creating world-wide fear and uncertainty. This is the reason astronomers now scan nightly for Near Earth Objects (NEOs) in attempt to locate them before they strike the earth. The geological record shows that on average an "earth killer" asteroid strikes our planet every 50 million years. The last one was the Yucatan Peninsula strike some 65 million years ago, so we are about 15 million years overdue for extinction, in case you needed something else to worry about.
The last time an object this large struck the earth was the mysterious Tunguska Event of June 30, 1908, when a comet, some think asteroid, struck a remote region of Siberia and laid waste to a vast area of forest. Asteroids about 150 feet in diameter are thought to be about the size of the one that struck Arizona about 50,000 years ago, creating the great Meteor Crater which is 3/4 of a mile wide and 500 feet deep.
2012 DA14 2013 feb 15th Pic du Midi from Francois Colas on Vimeo.
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The chart below shows the expected path of 2012 DA14 through the skies above Israel with time ticks representing Greenwich Mean Time. Add two hours to convert to Israeli local time. Although it will move quickly compared to most celestial bodies because it is so close to earth, you will still not see it move at the speed of a plane or even satellite. As you can see from the chart, it will take over eight hours to go from the tail of Leo to the NorthStar. So, you will only be able to identify it by its motion if you watch for an extended period of time. You will also need binoculars since at a brightness between magnitude 7 and 8 it will not be a naked eye object.
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| Asteroid 2012 DA14's path through the skies above Israel. Timing ticks are in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) so you will have to add two hours to find the asteroid's position in Israeli local time. It will shine between magnitude 7 and 8, so you will need binoculars or a telescope to see it. |
NASA Television will provide commentary starting at 9:00PM Israeli local time on February 15. The commentary will be streamed live online at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv and http://www.ustream.tv/nasajpl2
An object this size, thought to have a mass of 130,000 metric tons, would pack an explosive force of about 2.4 megatons of TNT if it struck the earth. The atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima packed a blast of .02 megatons, so this asteroid could pack a wallop 120x as large as Little Boy. While not a planet killer, like the asteroid that struck the Yucatan Peninsula 65 million years ago and wiped out the dinosaurs, it is still something to be reckoned with. Fortunately, over 70% of the earth is water and there are still significant wilderness areas, so chances are it would strike an unpopulated area. Still it would be difficult to predict its actual strike zone, creating world-wide fear and uncertainty. This is the reason astronomers now scan nightly for Near Earth Objects (NEOs) in attempt to locate them before they strike the earth. The geological record shows that on average an "earth killer" asteroid strikes our planet every 50 million years. The last one was the Yucatan Peninsula strike some 65 million years ago, so we are about 15 million years overdue for extinction, in case you needed something else to worry about.
The last time an object this large struck the earth was the mysterious Tunguska Event of June 30, 1908, when a comet, some think asteroid, struck a remote region of Siberia and laid waste to a vast area of forest. Asteroids about 150 feet in diameter are thought to be about the size of the one that struck Arizona about 50,000 years ago, creating the great Meteor Crater which is 3/4 of a mile wide and 500 feet deep.
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| The orbit of asteroid 2012 DA14, shown looping within the orbits of the moon and the ring of geosynchronous satellites that orbit the earth. A close call! |
Update: February 16, 2013
This video was taken by Francois Colas at Pic du Midi Observatory in France. It is a time lapse of 15 minutes of travel compressed into 16 seconds.
This video was taken by Francois Colas at Pic du Midi Observatory in France. It is a time lapse of 15 minutes of travel compressed into 16 seconds.
2012 DA14 2013 feb 15th Pic du Midi from Francois Colas on Vimeo.
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Monday, February 11, 2013
New Moon of Adar with Mercury!
I was out again tonight, photographing the new moon of Adar together with Mercury. Mars is somewhere in here below Mercury, but lost in the haze. This time I managed to include the dome of the Weiss Observatory 40-inch telescope. I was right up next to the rim of Machtesh Ramon, a bit scary after dark. I'll try again tomorrow night when the moon will be bigger and brighter.
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| The new moon of Adar 5773 on February 11, 2013, 6:15PM local time, just 28 hours old!. Mercury is seen to the lower left of the moon, with the dome and slit of the Weiss observatory 40-inch reflector to the right. |
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