Skywatch Media News for March the 5th 2020
one of the biggest existential threats to our planet lies well beyond its
boundaries within the dark void of space where meteors and asteroids exist these
falling chunks of rock pose a future threat to the earth but the risk posed
by meteor crashes is not about Hollywood movies it's about protecting the only
planet known to host life therefore it is a risk that must be taken seriously
destructive meteorites have crashed upon the earth several times within the past
century and according to scientific modeling systems they are expected to
occur once every 60 years the international agencies that monitor
near-earth objects have attempted to ease the concerns of the general public
by suggesting that their detection methods are foolproof but are they being
truthful? back in July of last year a dangerous asteroid named 2019 ok
passed within just 45,000 miles of the earth without being picked up by
detection radars history has shown that over the years there have been other
close calls such as the 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor blast that occurred just 18
miles above the Russian surface the explosion produced the equivalent of
four hundred and forty four thousand tons of TNT causing damage to buildings
within 300 miles of the blast the impact of such an encounter cannot be
underestimated 2020 promises to be another big year for meteor and fireball
events as shown here the first two months of this year have already
surpassed the monthly totals for the first two months of 2019 although many
if not most of these events posed no serious threat to the planet there are
several significant objects that are coming our way in 2020 that are
considered to be dangerous although each of their astronomical trajectories
indicate that they will all pass at a relatively safe distance from the earth
within the past month a number of spectacular meteor and
fireball events have lit up the skies across the planet let's take a look on
March 3rd the American meteor Society reported that hundreds of sightings
occurred as a fireball Streaked across the sky over Belgium and the
Netherlands eyewitnesses to the event said that the light emanating from the
fireball was bright enough to cast shadows
On February the 28th an immense daylight fireball blazed across the sky over
Croatia and Slovenia the explosive disintegration was so powerful that it
created a shockwave that set off seismic detectors in the region in the town of
Zagreb residents reported strong ground tremors and had thought that an
earthquake had just occurred the fireball explosion which created streaks
of smoke across the sky took place at an altitude of 18 miles according to
astronomers residents reported hearing a loud boom as the fireball flashed before
their eyes
February was an incredibly active month for meteor fireball sightings shortly
after midnight on February the 23rd a bright slow fireball dropped out of the
Spanish sky and exploded over Andalusia according to measurements the fireball
was generated by a rock from an asteroid that penetrated the atmosphere at over
26,000 miles per hour the disintegration began at an altitude of 43 miles
over Andalusia and ended at 18 miles over the Mediterranean Sea a few days
earlier on February the 20th a huge meteor changed night in to day in the
Russian Republic of Karelia the event lasted for six seconds immediately
following the bright flash of light a booming sound reverberated across the
region On February the 21st a space rock exploded over the Dominican Republic the
explosion was so immense that it was captured by cameras located in Puerto
Rico
a brilliant fireball streaked across the skies of Arizona on February the 26th
and it was also spotted in several Southwest US states the American meteor
society received numerous reports about the meteor witnesses from different
cities in Arizona as far north as Flagstaff and as far south as Chandler
in Phoenix reported seeing the fireball the meteor reportedly ended his flight
somewhere over the mezuzah peak residents and neighboring states were
able to observe the fireball particularly those in California New
Mexico Nevada and Utah an onlooker from Chandler noted that it was one of the
most incredible and terrifying experiences he had ever witnessed while
a watcher from a Marietta California wrote that it was probably the best
meteorite fireball that he had ever seen a witness from Kingman said they had
never seen anything like it
since the 16th of February there have been 4 confirmed reports of fireballs
across Arizona as well as confirmed reports of smoke trails and loud booms
but NASA has said that there is nothing to be concerned about even though the
spokesperson for the American meteor society has indicated that the
appearance of these many fireballs in short order is very strange and that
there is no real explanation for their occurrence the fireball that was
observed over Phoenix during the morning of February 26th turned out to be a
Jupiter family Comet traveling at 58,000 miles per hour this event was followed
that evening by the appearance of an asteroid fragment disintegrating in the
atmosphere at a speed of 36,000 miles per hour now it is very rare to have two
fireball events in the same locale on the same day On February 16th mystery
booms were heard by residents and Yavapai County that were likely caused
by a meteor there were multiple reports of fireball sightings on that day an
official from NASA stated that for unknown reasons there has been an
increase in fireball reports during the early spring but that they are not
related to any meteor shower their rationale for the uptick in fireball
sightings is that more people are out observing the sky these days the
realization that so many people are out observing the sky is a good thing but
NASA's rationale fails to explain what is taking place over our skies at this
time given the unusual statement recently provided by the American meteor
society's spokesperson maybe the powers that be in our nation's capitol should
devote more of their time looking to the sky for answers rather than staring at
one another
when we think of the sky we want to look up from where we stand but we are
already standing in the sky for the sky begins at the earth thanks for watching