GEOMAGNETIC STORM WATCH (G1): Minor G1-class geomagnetic storms are possible on Aug. 4th-5th when one or more CMEs are expected to hit Earth. The CMEs were hurled in our direction by a combination of events--namely, the eruption of a magnetic filament on July 31st plus multiple M-class eruptions from active sunspot AR3380 on Aug. 1st and 2nd. Aurora alerts: SMS Text
BRIGHT FIREBALL RATTLES THE EASTERN USA: This morning just after 2 a.m. EDT, sonic booms rolled across the eastern USA, shaking buildings hard enough to wake observers. Sky watchers looked up and saw a brilliant fireball tearing itself apart overhead. Amateur astronomer Bill Stewart of Ceredo, West Virginia, was outside on his rooftop observatory and accidentally videoed his own reaction to the booming flash:
"It was at 2:13 a.m.," says Stewart. "The fireball made two audible booms. After one bright flash it broke into 3 distinct fragments. One remained bright as it descended below the horizon. It could have possibly touched down although I didn’t hear it impact."
The American Meteor Society has collected more than 65 eyewitness reports from 9 US states. The fireball first appeared over Ohio, streaked south, then petered out over Georgia. Observers said "it flashed like lightning," "it shook my house," and "I've never seen anything like it."
At its peak, the fireball outshined the supermoon also visible in Stewart's video:
"I agree it was brighter," says Stewart. "The reflection of the fireball was cast on a metal roof below, quite vividly, whereas the Moon was not as reflective."
There are currently three active meteor showers capable of producing bright fireballs: The Perseids, Alpha Capricornids, and Southern Delta Aquariids. However, the fireball's path through the sky doesn't match any of those showers.
It may have been a random meteoroid--also known as a "sporadic." Random meteoroids hit Earth all the time as our planet plows through old clouds of comet dust and asteroid debris, which litter interplanetary space. On any dark night you can see a handful of bright sporadics. This fireball, however, may be exceptional. According to NASA statistics, sporadic fireballs exceeding supermoon brightness disintegrate in Earth's atmosphere no more than once every year or so.
Stay tuned for updates as we gather more information about this event. And if you have a photo, please submit it here.
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THE PANSPERMIA CUBE: Every week, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus take an astronomy class from Dr. Tony Phillips. This summer they've been learning about panspermia--the unverified yet tantalizing idea that seeds of life have spread through the cosmos. To celebrate the concept, they just flew the Panspermia Cube to the stratosphere:
You can have it for $119.95. Inside the crystal cube, there is a laser-etched 3D model of a dandelion spreading its seeds on the winds of space. It comes with a greeting card showing the dandelion in flight (105,120 ft high on the students' cosmic ray research balloon) and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.
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