» Home > In the News

Arizona fireball

2 June 2016
Astronomy

At www.spaceweather.com (June 2nd 2016) we learn that on the 4th and 5th of June the Earth will say hello to a stream of solar wind and auroras are expected. This is the same stream of material the Earth encountered in early May when aurora were visible over northern and middle Britain. Let's hope the clouds disperse. However, the big news is the Arizona fireball – and how big an object it might have been (various reports appear to exaggerate the size). All we can say is that it was a big meteor that exploded in a bright flash of light. The ground shook from the explosion.

Meanwhile, at http://phys.org/print384004189.html … a study by Purdue University (and others) found comets regularly split apart – but can also reunite later. This appears to be a process common to comets and how they behave. Breaking apart appears to be related to increased spin rate. It seems to be outgassing events that cause the comet to spin faster which implies the Sun is involved in the process.

At http://phys.org/print383987425.html …. another study suggests asteroids delivered water to the Moon – four billion years ago. Interesting piece as by studying the Moon they hope to better understand the early Earth.

Skip to content