[MIham] Meteor Explodes over Colorado

[Frank]

Space Weather News for Dec. 6, 2008
http://spaceweather.com

COLORADO FIREBALL:  Last night, a fireball one hundred times brighter than 
the full Moon lit up the sky near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Astronomer 
Chris Peterson photographed the event using an all-sky video camera 
dedicated to meteor studies. "In seven years of operation, this is the 
brightest fireball I've ever recorded. I estimate the terminal explosion at 
magnitude -18."  Meteors this bright are called superbolides; they are 
caused by small (meter-class) asteroids and are likely to pepper the ground 
with meteorites when they explode.  Visit http://spaceweather.com to watch 
the fireball video and contribute sighting reports that could help pinpoint 
any meteoritic debris.

TUMBLING TOOLBAG:  The space station's famous sidekick, the ISS Toolbag, is 
circling Earth and reportedly producing flashes of light bright enough to 
record using off-the-shelf digital cameras. The flashes, shown in a photo on 
today's edition of Spaceweather.com, could be a sign that the bag is 
tumbling. Both the Toolbag and the ISS will be making a series of evening 
passes over North America and Europe in the evenings ahead, so now is a good 
time to look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times: 
http://spaceweather.com/flybys

BONUS:  The Dec. 1st Great Conjunction Photo Gallery continues to grow with 
daily additions from around the world.  Start browsing here: 
http://spaceweather.com/conjunctions/gallery_01dec08.htm



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