A dramatic meteor shower took place over the Urals area of Russia today with large fireballs and smoke tails seen in the sky and loud explosions heard. (See video below.) Sightings were reported in the cities of Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg and Tyumen. Widespread meteorite debris hitting the ground caused injuries to several hundred people and damage to buildings (see second video below.)
From reading the articles today, some definitions are in order. A meteoroid is the rock traveling in space, a meteor is the bright flashy trail as it streaks through the atmosphere. and a meteorite is a chunk of a meteoroid that made it to the ground without vaporizing.
Here is an animation of the flyby of asteroid 2012 DA14. On February 15th, the 45 meter diameter asteroid will pass just 27,700 kilometers (17,200 mi) above the Earth’s surface.
The simulation was made with NASA’s Eyes on the Solar System program by Adrian Wenz of BINARY SPACE. It shows the flyby from the viewpoint of the asteroid and includes the positions of a number of satellites.
Recently five amateurs were honored with the 2012 Edgar Wilson Award. Established in 1998, this award goes to those dedicated observers lucky enough to spot a comet using amateur-grade equipment. Below is the list of winners:
Leonid Elenin of Russia, who spotted comet P/2011 NO1 on July 7, 2011
Artyom Novichonok and Vladimir Gerke of Russia, co-discoverers of comet P/2011 R3 on September 7, 2011
Terry Lovejoy of Australia, for his discovery of comet C/2011 W3 on November 27, 2011
Fred Bruenjes of Warrenburg, Missouri, for his discovery of comet C/2012 C2 on February 11, 2012