Latest news with #GOES-East
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Video shows fireball meteor explode in broad daylight. How rare is this cosmic phenomenon?
People across Georgia on Thursday witnessed an unusual flash of light streaking through the bright blue sky, followed by a thunderous boom that rattled windows. But there were no thunderstorms in the area. The culprit? An exceptionally bright meteor called a fireball. Videos from dashcams and security cameras shared online caught the event, which occurred around 12:24 p.m. EDT on June 26. It was also observed by a lightning detector on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-East satellite, as confirmed by posts on X by NOAA and the NWS Charleston. The event generated more than 200 reports to the American Meteor Society (AMS), the organization in charge of monitoring meteoric phenomena, including a possible meteorite strike on a home in Georgia. But what exactly is a fireball? Here's why it's so unusual to see one in the light of day. Every day, space rocks called meteoroids bombard the Earth. These rocks come from comets, asteroids, or even the moon or other planets and range in size from a speck of dust (most common) to a small asteroid (very rare). NASA estimates some 48.5 tons of meteoritic material enters the atmosphere daily. (What's the difference between an asteroid and a comet?) However, that's where the fates of these rocks can diverge. If a meteoroid enters the atmosphere and burns up, it's called a meteor. But if a meteor reaches the surface of Earth, it becomes a meteorite. Fireballs are a less common type of meteor—they earn that designation when they appear brighter than Venus in the night sky. While thousands of fireballs fall on the Earth each day, most happen over the ocean or uninhabited areas, or they occur during daylight hours and are drowned out by daylight. That's what makes the Georgia event much rarer. "Daytime fireballs are rarer to see because the sun outshines the meteor in most cases. Only the largest objects will be seen, and there are fewer of these," says Hankey. According to Hankey, AMS receives reports of daytime fireballs between five and 10 times per year. Given their larger size, fireballs often don't burn up completely as they travel through the atmosphere, and their debris will strike the Earth as meteorites. Those meteorites generally cannot be seen for the last nine to 12 miles of their descent—what AWS calls their 'dark flight' period—as they lose their light as they decelerate. ('Alien' minerals never found on Earth identified in meteorite.) As for the window-rattling boom accompanying a fireball, that's likely a sonic boom. Meteors enter the atmosphere at speeds ranging from 20,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. When an object surpasses the speed of sound—around 760 miles an hour at sea level—it builds up so much pressure that this releases a large sound wave as a 'sharp release of pressure.' If you think you've witnessed a fireball, you can submit a report to AMS to help them confirm the event. "We can usually validate a fireball sighting with five or more eyewitness reports. The data submitted can be mathematically joined, and we can produce a meteor track from the observations," Hankey says. With 20 or more reports, the team can determine a reasonably accurate track, while videos of a fireball provide even better information. "These can be used to refine the track and gauge the velocity and magnitude," says Hankey. This can help determine whether not the meteor belongs to a meteor shower, or narrow down the area where a meteorite might have fallen.
National Geographic
27-06-2025
- Science
- National Geographic
Video shows fireball meteor explode in broad daylight. How rare is this cosmic phenomenon?
People across Georgia on Thursday witnessed an unusual flash of light streaking through the bright blue sky, followed by a thunderous boom that rattled windows. But there were no thunderstorms in the area. The culprit? An exceptionally bright meteor called a fireball. Videos from dashcams and security cameras shared online caught the event, which occurred around 12:24 p.m. EDT on June 26. It was also observed by a lightning detector on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) GOES-East satellite, as confirmed by posts on X by NOAA and the NWS Charleston . The event generated more than 200 reports to the American Meteor Society (AMS), the organization in charge of monitoring meteoric phenomena, including a possible meteorite strike on a home in Georgia. But what exactly is a fireball? Here's why it's so unusual to see one in the light of day. What is a fireball—and how rare are they really? Every day, space rocks called meteoroids bombard the Earth. These rocks come from comets, asteroids, or even the moon or other planets and range in size from a speck of dust (most common) to a small asteroid (very rare). NASA estimates some 48.5 tons of meteoritic material enters the atmosphere daily. (What's the difference between an asteroid and a comet?) However, that's where the fates of these rocks can diverge. If a meteoroid enters the atmosphere and burns up, it's called a meteor. But if a meteor reaches the surface of Earth, it becomes a meteorite. Fireballs are a less common type of meteor—they earn that designation when they appear brighter than Venus in the night sky. While thousands of fireballs fall on the Earth each day, most happen over the ocean or uninhabited areas, or they occur during daylight hours and are drowned out by daylight. That's what makes the Georgia event much rarer. "Daytime fireballs are rarer to see because the sun outshines the meteor in most cases. Only the largest objects will be seen, and there are fewer of these," says Hankey. According to Hankey, AMS receives reports of daytime fireballs between five and 10 times per year. How fireballs become meteorites and cause sonic booms Given their larger size, fireballs often don't burn up completely as they travel through the atmosphere, and their debris will strike the Earth as meteorites. Those meteorites generally cannot be seen for the last nine to 12 miles of their descent—what AWS calls their 'dark flight ' period—as they lose their light as they decelerate. ('Alien' minerals never found on Earth identified in meteorite.) As for the window-rattling boom accompanying a fireball, that's likely a sonic boom . Meteors enter the atmosphere at speeds ranging from 20,000 to 160,000 miles per hour. When an object surpasses the speed of sound—around 760 miles an hour at sea level—it builds up so much pressure that this releases a large sound wave as a ' sharp release of pressure .' What to do if you see a fireball If you think you've witnessed a fireball, you can submit a report to AMS to help them confirm the event. "We can usually validate a fireball sighting with five or more eyewitness reports. The data submitted can be mathematically joined, and we can produce a meteor track from the observations," Hankey says. With 20 or more reports, the team can determine a reasonably accurate track, while videos of a fireball provide even better information. "These can be used to refine the track and gauge the velocity and magnitude," says Hankey. This can help determine whether not the meteor belongs to a meteor shower, or narrow down the area where a meteorite might have fallen. Magazine for all ages starting at $25/year
CBS News
09-04-2025
- Science
- CBS News
Next-gen NOAA weather satellite giving meteorologists big forecasting edge
After launching in June 2024, a brand new weather satellite is finally up and running. "I don't know what the right word is, but it sort of, it completes something I've been working on my entire career," said Dan Lindsey, the GOES-R program scientist at NOAA. GOES-19 began its trip to space last summer and since then, scientists like Lindsey, who oversee the program, have been making sure it's ready to go. "They have to make sure it's pointing in the right direction. It has to make sure that everything is lined up the way we want. And then all seven of those instruments have to be individually tested. They're turned on. Their sample data is collected," Lindsey said. With those tests going smoothly, GOES-19 is officially watching over us as GOES-East. Many of the instruments on board, like the advanced baseline imager and lightning mapper look down at storms on earth, creating various loops helping NEXT Weather meteorologists prepare your forecasts. But this satellite has an extra tool: the compact coronagraph. That looks up at the sun to help track solar storms, which give us the beautiful northern lights, but can also cause radio blackouts and power outages. "It sort of blocks out the sun itself and allows us to take pictures of that corona. And that allows us to detect these coronal mass ejections and predict when they're going to impact the Earth," Lindsey said. He says all of last year's solar storms were perfect for testing. And even with all the buzz around this new gadget, there's already a lot of hype about what's next to improve weather forecasting. "The future series is called GeoXO, or Geostationary Extended Observations, launching in 2032. We're going to go from two spacecraft to three, and add some new instrumentation and also make some improvements to our existing imager and lightning mapper capabilities," Lindsey said. This new satellite will help meteorologists track hurricanes, thunderstorms and winter storms well into the 2030s until the next generation of satellites are ready to go.
