Explanation: What makes a meteor a fireball? First of all, everyone agrees that a fireball is an exceptionally bright meteor. Past that, the International Astronomical Uniondefines a fireball as a meteor brighter than apparent magnitude -4, which corresponds (roughly) to being brighter than any planet -- as well as bright enough to cast a human-noticeable shadow. Pictured, an astrophotographer taking a long-duration sky image captured by accident the brightest meteor he had ever seen. Clearly a fireball, the disintegrating space-rock created a trail so bright it turned night into day for about two seconds earlier this month. The fireball has been artificially dimmed in the featured image to bring up foreground Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada. Although fireballs are rare, many people have been lucky enough to see them. If you see a fireball, you can report it. If more than one person recorded an image, the fireball might be traceable back to the Solar System body from which it was ejected.
By the way, how do we know that the dinosaurs weren't too smart?
Answer:
They weren't able to destroy their environment. It took an asteroid to do that.
Ann
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:33 am
by alter-ego
Impressive shot, but I can't help but look at this and shiver.
Short story, when I was way younger, my brother and I rolled a canoe in Lake Louise during a hot, sunny, mid-summer day. We were across the lake and maybe 50' or more from the shore, and by the time we pulled the canoe and stuff to shore, we aching all over. This picture at night makes the lake seem even colder, brrrrr.
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:52 am
by JohnD
Ann,
I believe that a meteor big enough to go fireball will be at least one meter across. The Yucatan object was 10,000 to 15,000 meters wide. The Lake Louise object was therefore 5,000 to 15,000 times smaller. The dinosaurs could have continued to sleep easy. For then, anyway.
JOhn
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 10:40 am
by Tszabeau
I hope that’s not the one that fell through the woman’s roof and came to rest on her pillow. On second thought…
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 11:40 am
by orin stepanek
Another rock meets it's maker! I've never seen a fireball; nor do I
care to!
We've seen this kitty before! This time she's watching a fireball!
On dirty dusty ground, a black and white target practice poster of a bipedal insect-like creature stands, riddled with bullet holes. Barbed wire runs behind the poster and a large circular spaceship hovers in the background.
JohnD wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:52 am
Ann,
I believe that a meteor big enough to go fireball will be at least one meter across. The Yucatan object was 10,000 to 15,000 meters wide. The Lake Louise object was therefore 5,000 to 15,000 times smaller. The dinosaurs could have continued to sleep easy. For then, anyway.
JOhn
This might be seen as an "average" bright fireball. I doubt its parent body was anywhere near a meter in diameter.
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:42 pm
by oostef
Have any guess where the meteorite has landed?
'An explosion in the sky': Golden, B.C., woman nearly hit by meteorite after it crashed through her ceiling
quote the Apod blurb, " If more than one person recorded an image, the fireball might be traceable back to the Solar System body from which it was ejected." and to where it might have landed? Or could this help? (linked to from blurb) https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/fireballs/
JohnD wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:52 am
Ann,
I believe that a meteor big enough to go fireball will be at least one meter across. The Yucatan object was 10,000 to 15,000 meters wide. The Lake Louise object was therefore 5,000 to 15,000 times smaller. The dinosaurs could have continued to sleep easy. For then, anyway.
JOhn
This might be seen as an "average" bright fireball. I doubt its parent body was anywhere near a meter in diameter.
For the time it lasted, it could have been a 3mm marble and I agree with Chris (if it had had 1mt it would have detonation and it would have hit the ground)
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 7:12 pm
by John Spirko
Here's a report from nearby Golden, Alberta (83 kilometers from Lake Louise) about a woman who woke up with a meteor fragment on her pillow:
alter-ego wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:33 am
Impressive shot, but I can't help but look at this and shiver.
Short story, when I was way younger, my brother and I rolled a canoe in Lake Louise during a hot, sunny, mid-summer day. We were across the lake and maybe 50' or more from the shore, and by the time we pulled the canoe and stuff to shore, we aching all over. This picture at night makes the lake seem even colder, brrrrr.
Is "rolling a canoe" a thing, or did you mean that you "rowed a canoe"? Also, 50 feet of rowing doesn't seem too difficult or that far. There must be more to this story...
alter-ego wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:33 am
Impressive shot, but I can't help but look at this and shiver.
Short story, when I was way younger, my brother and I rolled a canoe in Lake Louise during a hot, sunny, mid-summer day. We were across the lake and maybe 50' or more from the shore, and by the time we pulled the canoe and stuff to shore, we aching all over. This picture at night makes the lake seem even colder, brrrrr.
Is "rolling a canoe" a thing, or did you mean that you "rowed a canoe"? Also, 50 feet of rowing doesn't seem too difficult or that far. There must be more to this story...
He means the bottom of the canoe became the top. And the occupants got dunked. I assumed they swam. It is possible to get back into a canoe you've rolled, but it's tricky and requires practice.
alter-ego wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:33 am
Impressive shot, but I can't help but look at this and shiver.
Short story, when I was way younger, my brother and I rolled a canoe in Lake Louise during a hot, sunny, mid-summer day. We were across the lake and maybe 50' or more from the shore, and by the time we pulled the canoe and stuff to shore, we aching all over. This picture at night makes the lake seem even colder, brrrrr.
Is "rolling a canoe" a thing, or did you mean that you "rowed a canoe"? Also, 50 feet of rowing doesn't seem too difficult or that far. There must be more to this story...
He means the bottom of the canoe became the top. And the occupants got dunked. I assumed they swam. It is possible to get back into a canoe you've rolled, but it's tricky and requires practice.
Ah. That makes a lot more sense. So "rolling a canoe" is indeed a thing, just not a very good thing!
Re: APOD: Fireball over Lake Louise (2021 Oct 12)
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2021 9:31 pm
by orin stepanek
oostef wrote: ↑Tue Oct 12, 2021 4:42 pm
Have any guess where the meteorite has landed?
'An explosion in the sky': Golden, B.C., woman nearly hit by meteorite after it crashed through her ceiling
Link to an article of a piece of the meteor going through a roof and landing on a pillow in Golden BC
Did anyone notice that Ms. Hamilton was apparently asked if she had "plans to take up astrology ... "? Sigh. Depressing. Maybe the questioner considered horoscopes (horrorscopes?) a legitimate way to predict encounters with meteors; but probably not.
Still, it's interesting to think her rock might have caused the fireball over Lake Louise.
Link to an article of a piece of the meteor going through a roof and landing on a pillow in Golden BC
Did anyone notice that Ms. Hamilton was apparently asked if she had "plans to take up astrology ... "? Sigh. Depressing. Maybe the questioner considered horoscopes (horrorscopes?) a legitimate way to predict encounters with meteors; but probably not.
Still, it's interesting to think her rock might have caused the fireball over Lake Louise.
Mark B.
It would be more accurate to say that the meteorite that fell through her roof was a remnant of the body that created the meteor. Probably not the only one.
markb212 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:54 am
Did anyone notice that Ms. Hamilton was apparently asked if she had "plans to take up astrology ... "? Sigh. Depressing. Maybe the questioner considered horoscopes (horrorscopes?) a legitimate way to predict encounters with meteors; but probably not. Still, it's interesting to think her rock might have caused the fireball over Lake Louise.
It would be more accurate to say that the meteorite that fell through her roof was a remnant of the body that created the meteor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Illustrated_Man wrote:
Ray Bradbury's Kaleidoscope: <<The crew of a space ship drift helplessly through space after their craft malfunctions. The story describes the final thoughts and conversations of the crew members as they face their death. The narrator bitterly reflects on his life and feels he has accomplished nothing worthwhile ("I'll burn like a meteor. I wonder if anyone'll see me"). His final thought is a wish that his life would at least be worth something to someone else. As he falls through Earth's atmosphere and is incinerated, he appears as a shooting star to a child in Illinois. "Look! A shooting star!" And mommy says "Make a wish!"
- The Illustrated Man is a 1951 collection of 18 science fiction short stories by American writer Ray Bradbury. A recurring theme throughout the stories is the conflict of the cold mechanics of technology and the psychology of people. >>
https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=horror wrote:
<<horror (n.) early 14c., "feeling of disgust;" directly from Latin horror "dread, veneration, religious awe," a figurative use, literally "a shaking, trembling (as with cold or fear), shudder, chill," from horrere "to bristle with fear, shudder.">>
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horoscope wrote:
<<The Latin word horoscopus, ultimately from Greek ὡρόσκοπος "nativity, horoscope", "observer of the hour [of birth]", from ὥρα "time, hour" and σκόπος "observer, watcher". In Middle English texts from the 11th century, the word appears in the Latin form and is anglicized to horoscope in Early Modern English. In Greek, ὡρόσκοπος in the sense of "ascendant" – not only of the time of someone's birth, but more generally of any significant event – and ὡροσκοπία "observation of the ascendant" is in use since Ptolemy.>>
Fireball over Lake Louise
On dirty dusty ground, a black and white target practice poster of a bipedal insect-like creature stands, riddled with bullet holes. Barbed wire runs behind the poster and a large circular spaceship hovers in the background.
