Questions tagged [meteor]
Questions on objects passing through the atmosphere which leave visible wakes of incandescent material.
92
questions
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2answers
68 views
What percentage of meteors are visible to the naked eye?
I read on a box of Lucky Charms that there are nearly a million shooting stars every day. My initial reaction was, "that's obviously false." However, upon further research I discovered that &...
3
votes
2answers
149 views
Satellite?? Star?? I am puzzled over what I just saw
I was just outside between 6:10 - 6:12 a.m. this morning (Sep.11/2021) and between this time saw the strangest anomaly in the sky.
It was still completely dark outside, the stars were extremely clear ...
3
votes
3answers
87 views
Fixed star-like light appears for a second or two - is there a way to find out what it was?
I saw what I can only describe as a fixed point of light, as bright as a shooting star, near Alpheratz for a second or two before disappearing. I am positive it wasn't a satellite nor a plane. There ...
1
vote
0answers
34 views
What is a "rare earthgrazer" and why might I see one during the Perseids "earlier in the night" moving slow, across the horizon?
I clicked on a Yahoo News link How to watch the Perseids — the best meteor shower of the year and saw the following sentence:
The meteors are very fast and bright, regularly leaving long tails of ...
1
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0answers
36 views
Dotted line of moving objects observed on May 5th and May 12th [duplicate]
I saw a dotted line shooting star-like object May 5th and May 12th. It was longer than any meteor/shooting star tail or trail I've ever seen before. I mean longer in every way, the distance it ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
How do they know the TNT equivalent of the meteor explosion over Vermont?
I've seen several reports of this meteor explosion, below are two.
Was there infrasound recordings of the pressure wave, or were weak, local seismic signals recorded, or it this just a ballpark ...
13
votes
4answers
3k views
Does a meteor's direction change between country or latitude?
So here is the question me and a friend of mine from Norway we saw a meteor but que said he saw it in the opposite direction as me and I was looking from spain, does that make any sense? Or we should ...
1
vote
0answers
42 views
Observed meteors on Venus?
In an article on Venus by JPL from 1996 I read
Due to the dense Venusian atmosphere, primary impact craters of less than a 3 kilometer (2 mile) diameter are nonexistent.
I am now wondering whether ...
1
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0answers
59 views
Meteor size and frequency distribution for Earth vs. moon or other planets?
I struggle to find an answer to the at-first-sight simple question if or how the size distribution and frequency distribution of incoming rocks hitting the ground or the atmosphere vary from Earth, to ...
1
vote
0answers
34 views
Do some shooting stars NOT travel in a straight line? [duplicate]
I saw what I assumed was a shooting star on December 21 (or 22) 2020 that moved in a straight line and then abruptly turned in an arc perpendicular to its original straight path. The brightness and ...
0
votes
2answers
99 views
Why black holes look black to us?
Why black holes look black to us?
The question might sound weird but my head stuck in it. As we know objects that fall into the black holes seem to remain unchanged in its event horizon due to the ...
4
votes
1answer
120 views
Any record of the Earth passing through the tail (not trail) of a comet?
Discussion below the Space SE question How hard is it to fly through the tail of a comet? Has it been done? has led me to ask if there is any record of the Earth passing through the tail of a comet.
...
2
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0answers
46 views
Have any meteoroids been detected before they reached the Earth's atmosphere?
Once a meteoroid starts burning up in the atmosphere, it becomes a visible meteor. Have any meteoroids been detected before they started to burn in the atmosphere? If yes, what is the ballpark ...
21
votes
1answer
2k views
How long between the moment a meteor is first visible and the moment a meteorite hits the ground?
A meteor is usually only visible for a couple seconds at most, but I would guess that it usually stops being visible high above the ground.
Meteors often don't make it to the ground as they completely ...
2
votes
0answers
52 views
What could have this blue "bouncing" trail been? [closed]
Last night at around 8:45 PM (UK Time), I saw something I've never seen before. It was a cloudy night and I saw a flash in the sky. When I looked towards it, I saw something that looked like a ...
2
votes
1answer
107 views
Origins of meteorites?
I am aware that the vast majority of meteorites come from the asteroid belt (including 4 Vesta), with some from the Moon and Mars. Are there any other locations from which meteorites have originated (...
10
votes
2answers
2k views
Where is the Perseids meteor shower coming from?
Swift–Tuttle Comet has orbital period of 133.28 years. Yet, people say that debris and dust from this comet causes this meteor shower. This does not make any sense. Or do they want to say that from ...
5
votes
1answer
120 views
Strange trail left by shooting star [duplicate]
I saw something really odd last night that I cannot understand.
Last night I got up around 3am to catch a glimpse of the upcoming Perseids meteor shower, now I know it's not peaking until next week ...
1
vote
1answer
22 views
Is there an all sky meteor watch with spectroscopy?
I assume performing spectroscopy on meteors would give us information about the composition of the outer layers of meteoroids, which we can't study on finds because it has already burned up. This ...
1
vote
1answer
58 views
apparent and absolute magnitude of meteors and space debris
I have a question regarding the apparent and absolute magnitude of space debris objects or meteors reentering the earth's atmosphere. I already understand the difference between apparent and absolute ...
1
vote
2answers
106 views
What could be the name of a huge asteroid I watched some years ago?
Some years ago I was with my family in Venezuela. I'm not sure about the date/hour, but probably it was somewhat around 2007 in the afternoon. We were talking when one of us saw a huge meteor moving "...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
How complicated is the heating of meteors?
When any gas, including our atmosphere, is compressed, it's temperature rises.
When a meteor is falling through the atmosphere, it is compressing the air below it.
Because this makes the air hotter ...
3
votes
1answer
192 views
Why is this shooting star wavy or squiggly toward the end of it's visible streak
I was taking photos of some stars when I noticed this shooting star was wavy toward the end (start?) of it's trail. My cousin suggesting that it could be the CCD in my camera or as it spiralling as it ...
7
votes
2answers
226 views
Are meteors visible on Mars?
If a person were standing on the surface of Mars, under ideal viewing conditions for seeing a meteor: no clouds, the sun has long set, would a meteor be visible to the naked eye considering how thin ...
1
vote
1answer
132 views
What makes some meteor showers continue for days, while the "Unicorn shower" can be shorter than one hour?
The Washington Post's One hundred meteors in 15 minutes? ‘Short-lived outburst’ of shooting stars forecast for Thursday night. says:
A “short-lived outburst” is forecast for Thursday evening around ...
0
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3answers
18k views
Slow moving star like objects in the night sky [duplicate]
So yesterday at about 2am I was watching the sky when I saw a small star like object moving very slowly across the sky. My initial thought was that it was a satellite due to the fact it was moving so ...
20
votes
1answer
2k views
Why did this meteor appear cyan?
A meteor recently flashed over Queenland.
The meteor has been described by various people as appearing cyan or aqua, so the blueness of the image can't be due to a camera issue. The colour doesn't ...
3
votes
2answers
129 views
How was this interstellar fireball observed and its trajectory analyzed?
The short, interesting paper Discovery of a Meteor of Interstellar Origin describes a proposed discovery of a second interstellar object. This one hit the Earth, and was discovered not by telescope, ...
0
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1answer
180 views
Could the Sun have liquid iron in orbit?
How close of an orbit to the Sun could an iron meteor get before it melts into a ball?
0
votes
1answer
95 views
Could pure iron from a star make it to Earth?
Since iron is a stars waste could a star that goes Super nova eject pure iron to travel across the galaxy?
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/35101/99-99-pure-iron-meteorite
2
votes
0answers
50 views
Was NASA's 2007 attempt to see helions during a solar eclipse successful? What instruments were used?
This answer about Sun-grazing comets led me eventually to Wikipedia's Helion (meteoroid), which has a one-sentence long article:
A Helion meteoroid is a meteoroid that arrives from the approximate ...
9
votes
1answer
215 views
What percentage of a lunar meteor strike is blown back into space?
Reading a discussion on another website, it was proposed that if a large meteor struck the moon, that a few days later, Earth would receive a meteor shower.
I thought about that and it seemed to me ...
7
votes
2answers
3k views
Did I see a mentionable event in Germany early morning on 6th of February 2019?
Around 6.15am (GMT + 1) on the 6th of February 2019 I
was looking out of my window somewhat north, when I saw something one would probably call a shooting star. The features were:
A magnitude I ...
-3
votes
1answer
2k views
Why do shooting stars burn close to the ground sometimes?
I saw a shooting star as I was standing on the roof of my home. My home is double storey. And the height of that shooting star that I saw was maybe 10 to 13 meters. It was burned down at that height. ...
1
vote
2answers
108 views
What would it take to capture a passing asteroid or other celestial body into Earth's orbit?
Every once in a while, we have a celestial body that passes through our solar system. What would be needed to reel one of these in? Not crashing down to Earth, that would be bad, but say into a high ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
Will comet 21P that just passed Earth on Sept 10 produce Draconid storm on Oct 9?
Comet 21P/Giaccobini-Zinner just made its closest pass to Earth and also made its Solar perihelion on the same day (Sept 10) which is roughly one month ahead of the annual Draconids meteor shower (Oct ...
-1
votes
3answers
400 views
Which of the following is the correct usage: meteor / meteorite?
I hope a meteor falls on your head.
or
I hope a meteorite falls on your head.
And why?
Definition of meteor
Definition of meteorite
4
votes
2answers
137 views
Water Content of Space Bodies
In general, are carbonaceous chondrites (CC) or comets more water rich?
I know that evidence has suggested that both CC and comets are partly composed of water, but which body is generally more water ...
2
votes
1answer
241 views
C-Type Asteroids and Carbonaceous Chondrite Meteorites
I was just wondering, what is the relationship between C-type asteroids and carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites? Do CC meteorites come from C-type asteroids?
2
votes
1answer
107 views
Precautions when retrieving material originated from space
I'm assuming that when retrieving a meteor for study and later display, there are precautions taken against possible radiation coming from it. Is my assumption correct and are there other precautions ...
4
votes
1answer
97 views
Is it possible to image a meteor so the rock is visible?
I was wondering what one would see if they were to look through a telescope tracking a meteor as it shot through the sky. Technology aside, would one be able to see the object tumbling or would it ...
2
votes
1answer
63 views
Is there a database for identifying the falling light I saw?
I witnessed a light fall from the sky. It was visibly about as bright as Mars, so brighter than meteorites I've seen, was just a point of light with no tail, and traveled much much faster than an ...
-1
votes
1answer
374 views
pH of meteorite [closed]
When a meteorite shower strikes a water body, what will be the pH of the water after the strike.
Will it always be $<7$
or
Will it always be $>7$
or
Will it always be $=7$
or
The answer ...
2
votes
1answer
360 views
How much time does it take for a meteor (shooting star) to touch the ground after its combustion? [closed]
I know that meteors that We see as shooting stars travel tens of thousands of kilometers per hour and are tiny as a grain of sand, but after hitting the atmosphere and burn I suppose that its ashes ...
6
votes
1answer
142 views
What explains this puzzling radio signature from a fireball?
September 21, 2017 a bright fireball over Holland was reported by hundreds of people. Several all-sky cameras recorded it as well as a special radio beacon set up to capture radio signatures of ...
2
votes
1answer
114 views
How long can afterglow last after a fireball?
I was watching the YouTube video Perseid Meteor Shower - Mojave Desert, California which looks East before sunrise, presumably in mid-August of 2016. I've made a GIF of a few seconds near the ...
2
votes
1answer
65 views
Two lights roughly 5 minutes apart about as bright as Mars or maybe Saturn
I'm in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area and around 9:30 on August 4th 2017 I saw a bright light that got dimmer moving from the tree line to the east up and to my left fairly slowly, and steadily getting ...
3
votes
1answer
193 views
is there any mathematical formula, paper or anything that shows the probability of a meteor hitting a particular spot of moon's surface?
According to this article http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/02/160209-meteorite-death-india-probability-odds/ a science professor at Tulane University made a paper to calculate the probability ...
4
votes
1answer
172 views
Meteor shower from Moon's "debris"
Did we ever witness a "meteor shower" which was actually dust or debris of some kind from our own Moon?
3
votes
2answers
889 views
Why are these objects moving at Vastly Different Speeds along the same orbit?
UPDATE: The on-line simulation seems to be working beautifully now! I'd recommend anyone to go back and take another look to enjoy both the mathematical beauty of orbital mechanics, and the aesthetics ...