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Meteor Reports Abound Online and on Twitter

Did anyone see the streaking trail of fire in the northeast sky?

 

 

Reports abound online and on social media outlets about a brilliant meteor carving a lighted path in the northeast sky tonight.

The Washington Post reported eye witnesses saw the light-show move from west to east at 7:50, and that the American Meteor Society received hundreds of meteor reports from Florida to Maine.

It's been an active six months for meteors and comets, and the second half of 2013 may feature some remarkable sky watching, as well.

Just last month a fireball exploded over Russia, injuring people, as it crashed into a frozen lake.

Scientists said it was a once-in-a-100-year event, estimated to be the biggest explosion since a 130-foot meteor exploded over Siberia in 1908, according to space.com and NPR.

Oddly, that meteor strike came before an asteroid missed the planet in mid-February.

NASA estimated a 150-foot-wide asteroid, 2012 DA14, came about 17,000 miles of earth, a close call when it comes to asteroids zipping by Earth.

Looking ahead, Comet ISON will fly within 1.2 million miles from the sun's center on Nov. 28, 2013, said astronomer Donald Yeomans, head of NASA's Near Earth Object Program at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. 

If the comet makes it through the sun's heat the ISON could outshine the moon.
Last September two amateur astronomers from Russia discovered the comet.

The Huffington Post says Comet ISON's path resembles that of a 1680 comet. And that comet's tail was reportedly visible during the daytime.


About this column: For night owls, insomniacs and others curious about the night sky, space and other diversions. Related Topics: meteor

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