February 2003 - astronomy@lists.redbrick.dcu.ie

Astronomy Ireland: Fireball Analysis points to Galway & Ocean
by Astronomy Ireland PR 26 Feb '03

26 Feb '03

26 February ASTRONOMY IRELAND Press Notice Fireball Analysis points to Galway & Ocean Astronomy Ireland has collected enough eyewitness reports of the extremely bright fireball seen over Ireland at 7:10am on Wednesday February 12th to issue a PRELIMINARY report. Having analysed over 200 written reports taken from people who jammed the society's phone lines for 3 days the conclusion is that an object came in from high above Ireland and plunged down toward a point somewhere in County Galway or Galway Bay, perhaps even off the coast of Clare. The path of the object was more roughly from the Northeast to Southwest. FLIGHT PATH The fireball would have entered the Earth's atmosphere at roughly 100,000 mph and started glowing about 100 miles above Ireland. In just a couple of seconds it would have slowed down having and streaked across the sky glowing extremely brightly, burning out perhaps 15-20 miles above the ground. This end point is where any meteorites would have fallen, silently and invisibly as they would no longer be glowing. They would have struck the ground, or the sea, at only 200 mph roughly 5 minutes after the fireball flash, which only lasted a couple of seconds. Meteorites hitting the Earth at this relatively low speed would have caused no crater and any meteorites would have been cold to the touch had anyone been nearby to pick them up, which doesn't appear to have been the case anyway. METEORITES AND VALUE Although dozens of people have called Astronomy Ireland to check if rocks they have found are meteorites or not, none of them is thought to be one of the meteorites that fell on Feb. 12. Irish meteorites are valued at between 200 and 500 euro per gramme, i.e. up to half a million euro per kilo, so the society does not recommend selling to meteorite collectors outside Ireland. Free and impartial advice can be given to anyone who finds a meteorite if they contact Astronomy Ireland. APPEAL Any meteorites dropped early in the flight of the fireball could therefore have fallen on County Galway but it is too early to say this for certain yet. A more detailed analysis must now be done and Astronomy Ireland is again appealing to the operators of all outdoor video cameras in Ireland to check their recordings for 7:10am Feb. 12. Given the brightness of the object and the hundreds of reports received from eye witnesses it does seems likely that one or more meteorites survived the re-entry and may have fallen on County Galway where they could be located. Some or all fragments may have fallen in the Ocean of the Coast of Galway however. HUMAN AND MACHINE REPORTS NEEDED In order to refine the location of any meteorite falls Astronomy Ireland is appealing for two types of witnesses to come forward: human and machine. The machines are the ubiquitous video cameras monitoring doorways or property. The tapes from any camera pointing outdoors should be check around the time of 7:10am Wednesday morning Feb. 12th. Anyone who is aware of any cameras outdoors should immediately contact the camera owners and ask them to check their tapes. Video tapes of the event provide the most accurate record of the fireball and just one or two tapes will allow the position of any meteorite landing zones to be calculated accurately, even if just one tape is found. So far no person has contacted the Society to say if they have checked their tapes which is most disappointing as they key to a national treasurer could be stored on these tapes. We also need people in Galway and the counties bordering Galway who saw, or heard, anything to make a report. Sounds are very important as this usually means the fireball end point was nearby. Anyone in Ireland who knows the star patterns and can give a rough path of the fireball amongst the stars should also make a report. A special form has been set up on Astronomy Ireland's website at www.astronomy.ie. If you do not have access to the internet then you can call Astronomy Ireland on (01) 847 0777 Monday to Saturday up to 6pm. THE SEARCH CONTINUES AT ASTRONOMY IRELAND... Once the likely location of this possible meteorite fall has been accurately determined a search of the land can be started. It may then be possible to locate that rarest form of space debris - an Irish meteorite. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tel: (01) 847 0777 WWW: http://www.astronomy.ie Email: info(a)astronomy.ie --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, and more

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Astronomy Ireland: Radio 1 Monday night; more fireball news
by David Moore 24 Feb '03

24 Feb '03

1. If the weather co-operates the Vincent Browne show on RTE Radio 1 tonight (Monday Feb. 24) will be all about astronomy with members of Astronomy Ireland outdoors with Vincent and a telescope talking about the universe. The show runs from 10pm until 11pm. If you miss it you can hear a recording (or listen live) on: http://www.radio1.ie/evening/vincentbrowne/ If the weather does not co-operate the show may be postponed. We'll let you know. 2. Another fireball possibly brighter than the Full Moon burst into Irish skies last night (Sunday Feb 23). If brighter than a Full Moon there is a possibility of a meteorite fall. We are still collecting reports of the Feb 12 fireball, reports of which jammed all of our phone lines for 3 days solid! A press notice is about to be issued as our preliminary investigation suggests county Galway, but the surrounding counties and ocean are also possible. Some of the eyewitnesses are being interviewed in more detail to improve the predicted fall zone (if indeed there was a meteorite droppes). If you know anyone who saw it have them go to astronomy.ie and fill out the fireball report form immediately. If you know of any video camera (no matter how small) pointing outdoors please get the owner to check their tape for 7:10am Feb. 12 now, before tapes are re-used! ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) info(a)astronomy.ie __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - forms, calculators, tips, more http://taxes.yahoo.com/

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[Astronomy Ireland] Fireball reports swamp Astronomy Ireland
by David Moore 14 Feb '03

14 Feb '03

This is a rather lengthy report but I thought you might be interested to hear what is going on as we have had so much media coverage - 3 TV news crews in the Shop, photographers too, dozens of live radio interviews, and many others for newspapers. I've even been interviewed for the "Richard and Judy" show on Channel 4! At the end there is an offer(appeal!) for you to get involved. Hundreds of detailed written reports of the bright fireball that was seen from Ireland around 7:10am Wednesday February 12 have been taken so far (by Friday afternoon some 57 hours after the fireball). Thousands of people have probably tried to get through but only hundreds have succeeded so far. It looks like the meteor itself could have been many times brighter than the Leighlinbridge Meteorite that fell on County Carlow on November 28, 1999. Many people say it 'exploded', 'burst' at the end. Such a terminal burst is useful to help locate the end of the trail, from where any meteorite would have dropped silently for 5 minutes from a height of around 20 miles before impacting the Earth at terminal velocity - about 200 mph. Most reports I've seen said it was white but reds and greens were reported. As with the 1999 Leighlinbridge meteorite the fireball was seen to shed several fragments. Volunteers in our office and the Astronomy Shop staff have spent most of their time just taking reports with all phone lines in use simultaneously for the past 2 days. This has left very little time to analyse the reports. Our meteorite specialist Tony Ryan is out of Dublin until Sunday night so it is proving very difficult for me to do my own job (I haven't!), deal with journalists, photographers, TV camera crews, as well as all the day to day Astronomy Ireland duties I have (we managed to get thousands of your March issues of A&S into the post during the past 2 days), as well as edit and write for the magazine! The best analysis that could be done in the brief time available to me (and no one else has been able to help yet - see below) is that it now looks like a meteorite fall is certain. The number of calls we have received is one indication of this based on past fireball reports we have had! A better indication is the brightness of the object - far brighter than the Full Moon by most accounts. At first it looked like the northwest was the most likely area. Now the West is favoured, possibly out to sea, but possibly over West Galway (even the Aran Islands?). This is still a provisional analysis. For example, one lady outside Sligo is certain it was toward a landmark that is definitely to her northwest. A man from Clare 'saw' it to the left (West) of Mutton Island which puts it due West from Clare! Then another man near Galway saw it relative to Jupiter and that puts it WNW of Galway city. These reports cannot be reconciled to give an accurate location for the end of the fireball. Experience shows people do get things wrong like this - many of the reports we got for the Leighlinbridge meteorite could not possibly have predicted a landing zone in Carlow or any county anywhere near it! So what do you do? The answer is to sift through hundreds of reports for hours and see what the majority of reports are saying. Then we may have to call some eye witnesses to get more details. Ideally we need to go visit some of the people and get exact bearings from them, but Astronomy Ireland does not have the resources to be able to do this last part. We were lucky in 1999 that 3 members saw the fireball at 10:10pm (when many members would be out observing) and plotted its path amongst the stars. From these three sightings alone we were able to triangulate the end point of the meteor to the north part of County Carlow, which is where fragments were ultimately found. SECURITY CAMERAS If we could get one security camera that caught the terminal burst of the fireball we could pinpoint the location quite accurately. Two recordings would allow an even more accurate estimate. I have appealed for all camera operators to check their tape for around 7:10am especially if pointing west. So far no one has got in touch. Some cameras have certainly recorded the event and the could be holding the secret to a national treasure! If you see any camera pointing roughly horizontally and west please ask its owner to check Wednesday morning's tape! If you saw the fireball and know the sky well and can plot the fireball's path amongst the stars, or even relative to Jupiter (which was low in the West) please email us immediately: info(a)astronomy.ie WEBPAGE We are hoping to set up a webpage with our questionaire for anyone who saw the fireball to be able to report it online. This will save a lot of time on the phone taking down details. Keep checking http://www.astronomy.ie HELP ANALYSE? If you are interested in this meteorite hunt would you like to come in to our offices and help analyse the reports we have received? Possibly call some of the witnesses and help narrow the search? Email info(a)astronomy.ie if so and leave your name and contact telephone number. HELP TAKE CALLS? We have no one for Saturday and Sunday (Sunday Times are running a piece that is sure to generate even more calls!) to help answer the phones. If you'd like to help email info(a)astronomy.ie and leave your name and contact telephone number. AND FINALLY, We will be writing a report of this fireball for the April issue of the magazine due out in mid March, even if we cannot be certain where it fell. ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) info(a)astronomy.ie __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com

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[Astronomy Ireland] Comet NEAT, FIREBALL, I.S.S., sale
by David Moore 12 Feb '03

12 Feb '03

1. Comet NEAT is an amazing sight in the west in evening twilight. I estimated it to be magnitude 3.5 last night (Tuesday). In our 50mm binoculars it looked like an exclamation mark standing vertically above the sunset point. View at around 6:30am (east cost - a bit later the further west you are). There is a finder chart on page 40 of the February issue of our magazine but if you just sweep above the sunset point very close to the horizon you should pick it up, it's that bright. Over the next couple of days it dives into the Sun's glare, but brightening all the time. Could it reach 1st magnitude? I doubt anyone will see it after Friday, it's just too low. Ireland/UK are at the best latitude in the world to see it last. Let's hope the weather co-operates. After that you should be able to see the comet with the SOHO spacecraft! Click on http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-images.html and check the LASCO C2 and C3 images. Don't forget to send your observations to observe(a)astronomy.ie for our NEW Observers Log column by Anthony Murphy starting in the March issue, due out at the end of this week. 2. GIANT FIREBALL 7:15am Wednesday Feb. 12 RTE woke me to ask about a very bright fireball seen over Ireland this morning. If you saw, or know anyone who did, get in touch: email/phone/fax/write to the contact points below. 3. I.S.S. I saw I.S.S. and the comet in the same binocular field of view last night! I.S.S was very red (probably those gold solar panels) You can still see it tonight and tomorrow and then that will probably be the LAST time you ever see I.S.S. manned! There was an orbit boost yesterday so throw anyway any website printouts you made! You'll always get the most uptodate predictions (based on a network of 'real' observers and news from NASA about re-boosts, and news of space-chases e.g. earlier this week - DID YOU SEE IT!?) from our premium rate Newslines: Republic of Ireland: 1550-111-442 (calls cost 74c/min) U.K.: 09001-88-1950 (calls cost 60p/min) 4. NEW YEAR SALE. Don't forget you only have until Feb 28 to get 750euro of eyepieces and filters for just 199euro!!! Lots more bargains too e.g. most beginner to medium telescopes reduced, some drastically, so get ready for Mars coming closer than ever in the history of civilisation in August! Call the number below and our Shop staff will post details or take your order. ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) info(a)astronomy.ie __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Shopping - Send Flowers for Valentine's Day http://shopping.yahoo.com

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[Astronomy Ireland] Feb 10 Public Lecture "Giant Comets" by Ireland's top astronomer
by David Moore 10 Feb '03

10 Feb '03

Prof Mark Bailey is the Director of Armagh Observatory, one of, if not the top professional observatories on this island. Astronomy Ireland is privileged to have Prof Bailey give its February Public Lecture: "GIANT COMETS - Sources and Terrestrial Effects" at 8:00pm Monday February 10th in the main lecture hall (CG86) of the Henry Grattan Building Dublin City University (see our web-site for map) All welcome. Admission �5 (�3 to members and concessions) This is an especially appropriate talk with the recent Comet Kudo-Fujikawa that was a fine sight in binoculars recently, and Comet NEAT which is faintly visible to the naked eye at present (mag. 4 and with a 4 degree tail) and an amazing sight in a telescope this weekend! Also at this lecture, our space correspondent, Colm J. Cannon will give a brief presentation on the Columbia disaster, and a 1 minute silence will be observed. Finally, there will be a giant birthday card for Sir Patrick Moore for you to sign on the occasion of his upcoming 80th birthday (March 4th). Don't forget I.S.S. is still flying over every evening. Call our premium rate Newslines after 12 noon each day to get the time to see it that evening: Republic of Ireland: 1550-111-442 (calls cost 74c/min) N.Ireland and G. Britain: 09001-88-1950 in (calls cost 60p/min) ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) info(a)astronomy.ie __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com

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[Astronomy Ireland] Comet NEAT, Kerry and Cork Branch Lectures, ISS
by David Moore 01 Feb '03

01 Feb '03

News from Astronomy Ireland ***STOP PRESS*** Space Shuttle Columbia destroyed on re-entry. All 7 astronauts probably killed. No time to prepare detailed report, media are bombarding us. See http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov 1. Comet NEAT 2. Kerry Public Lecture and Branch 3. Cork Public Lecture and Mayor's Reception 4. I.S.S. now visible 5. NEW YEAR SALE - amazing offer 1. Comet C/2002 V1 (NEAT), or comet NEAT for short, is now about mag. 5! Some keen sighted observers with dark skies report being able to see it with the naked eye, faintly. There is a faint tail up to 2 degrees long. I saw it on Thursday from outside Dublin city in a Celestar 8 and could see a half a degree tail - there was still some light pollution and pesky clouds covered it until it was only 12 degrees above the horizon. Comet NEAT is easy to find with binoculars just below the Square of Pegasus, every evening soon after sunset, say from 6pm on. Use the finder chart on page 40 of the February issue of A&S. For the very best views, try to view in the next few days as the Moon will start to interfere from Tuesday onwards. Though this comet is bright enough to be seen in moonlight. Comet NEAT is set to brighten in the coming days but it will also start to get lower in the West. After about Feb. 10 it will be difficult to see, but still getting brighter. Ultimately it will pass very close to the Sun (9 million miles) on Feb. 18. One thing you won't have heard elsewhere is that Ireland is at the ideal latitude to get the last (best?) views of the comet as it dives in to the Sun's glare. When the Sun sets, the comet is DIRECTLY above the sunset point meaning the comet is as high as it can be from anywhere on the planet. Let's hope it's clear! Send your reports of what you see for our NEW "Observers Log" column to observe(a)astronomy.ie along with any photos or drawings. A report of early sightings will appear in the March issue of A&S due out in 2 weeks time. 2. Wed. Feb. 5 in The Intermediate School, Killorglin, Co. Kerry there will be a lecture by David Moore, Chairman of Astronomy Ireland at 8:00pm. All welcome. Admission 4euro (3euro to concessions incl. anyone carrying the latest issue of A&S!). "The Universe" is all about the planets, the stars, the galaxies in which they live and die, plus the ultimate fate of the Universe - has it got a future? Come along and find out! Booking is not necessary. You can call the school for directions etc. on 066-976 1246. This will also be a test for a planned new Kerry branch to be run by Colm Cannon and Eamonn Cregan (we have written to all 200 members in the area) so please support this event. 3. Thu. Feb. 6 Astronomy Ireland's whistle stop tour of the Southwest continues the next day with a reception by the Lord Mayor of Cork on the occasion of the Chairman of Astronomy Ireland speaking in the city that night (8pm Crawford Art Gallery). The reception is open to all but you must call AI's man in Cork Martin Lynch on 021-496 3853 or 087-240 4104. This is a great honour for the Society and we look forward to seeing as many of our Cork members there as possible in the Mayoral offices, City Hall at 4:30pm. 4. The International Space Station will be blazing across the sky every night from now until Feb. 13. Call our premium rate Newslines after 12 noon each day on 1550-111-442 (calls cost 74c/min) for a short message giving the time to see it that evening. 3 astronauts on board as you watch. It will be the brightest object in the sky so newcomers will have no trouble spotting it, just look up at the predicted time! e.g. on Saturday night I.S.S. will pass over the country at 7:04pm. 5. And finally, don't forget there is a NEW YEAR SALE on many items from our Shop including an amazing 40th anniversary deal from Celestron, the like of which we have never seen before. If you know anyone who is thinking of buying a telescope then have them do so before Feb. 28. See the leaflets at http://www.astronomy.ie/sale.html (a new page is being done up soon so check the main site and follow the "sale" link if this page does not work!) Drop in and see the amazing 2-inch accessories now being offered FREE with the NexStar 11GPS, worth 1,000euro! ===== David Moore BSc FRAS, Chairman, Astronomy Ireland, P.O.Box 2888, Dublin 5. Editor, "Astronomy & Space" magazine. ASTRONOMY SHOP: open Mon.-Fri. 9:30am-5:30pm and Sat. noon-6pm. Tel (01) 847 0777. Fax (01) 847 0771. http://www.astronomy.ie (Subscribe FREE to AI's Events emailing list) info(a)astronomy.ie __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com

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