Meteor explosion - Cuba

By DocM
in Science News & Discussion

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Grand Master

DocM

Posted
Posted

It'll be interesting to see if its track parallels the Urals event.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2013-02/16/c_132171646.htm

Suspected meteor explosion reported in central Cuba

2013-02-16 12:59:27

HAVANA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- An object fell from the sky over central Cuba on Thursday night and turned into a fireball "bigger than the sun" before it exploded, a Cuban TV channel reported Friday, citing eyewitnesses.

Some residents in the central province of Cienfuegos were quoted as saying that at around 8 p.m. local time Thursday (0100 GMT Friday) they saw a bright spot in the sky comparable to a bus in size.

The object then turned into a fireball "bigger than the sun," said the witnesses, adding that several minutes later they heard a loud explosion.

One resident told the TV station that his house shook slightly in the blast.

Cuban experts have been dispatched to the area to look for possible remains of the meteor-like object, said the report.

It remains unknown whether the reported phenomenon in Cuba is related to Friday's meteor strike in central Russia, which set off a shockwave that shattered windows and left some 1,000 people injured.

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Grand Master

XerXis

Posted
Posted

Why? They come in all sizes up to the size of Mt. Everest, which KO'ed the dinosaurs. The size of a bus is still middling when it comes to meteors.

Of course, but the one in Russia was about the size of a car. And if it was the size of Mt Everest we sure as hell would have noticed it. ;) In fact the one that went past us (DA14) is "only" 45 meters in diameter and that one was clearly visible and it's trajectory known long before it got near us. So it would surprise me that an object the size of a bus (more or less 14 to 20 meters?) could enter our atmosphere unnoticed.

Grand Master

XerXis

Posted
Posted

That DA14 was noticed was unusual. We know only a few of the near Earth asteroids, and even fewer of the ones bus sized (which is within the payload bay size of many launchers) and smaller.

Ow ok, I know you are very knowledgeable about everything space related so I stand corrected. I still think it's strange though that NASA, which tracks all space debris out of fear of it hitting the ISS, wouldn't know about bus sized asteroids hitting us. Is it because of their speed and trajectory?

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yup. At 33,000 mph it covers the distance to the moon in just 8 hours.

You could count the number of telescopes looking for them on one hand & fit the people running all of them into a single McDonalds, and they aren't distributed evenly across Earth's surface. Most are in the US, Europe or Western Russia, so we have big blind spots. Even then, most of those scopes are small, and many meteors and asteroids are nearly black & not very reflective. Many are black as coal (carbonaceous chondrites.)

Then there are the space radars dedicated to tracking missiles, satellites and space junk, but their range and resolution is limited.

Bottom line: our capabilities are very limited.

Grand Master

+Gary7 Subscriber²

Posted
  • Subscriber²
Posted

Am I also right in thinking that there's no reliable way to spot incoming objects if they're coming from the direction of the sun?

I thought I read that somewhere in one of the various news reports but I can't find it now.

The one in Russia was very visible.

Grand Master

neoadorable

Posted
Posted

these happen all the time, i'm sure everyone here was sitting in their living room or something when there was suddenly a borderline flash of light and then a loud bang? could be power transformer down the block blowing off, could have been a rock from space. it's part of nature as Doc described, and thanks as always for the info. honestly I had more faith in our tracking abilities, but this is even more reason to start expanding to other world cause sooner or later one a tad bigger than a Dragon launch vehicle will show up...

Grand Master

DocM

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Source for that? I knew from the start it was, but I was waiting to see confirmation.

An early email from an astronomer, but now that's being called into question at his end too. Russian media is running the story and some video (some videos are also popping up on YouTube.)

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_17/Meteorite-explodes-over-Cuba-VIDEO/

Grand Master

Dot Matrix

Posted
Posted

An early email from an astronomer, but now that's being called into question at his end too. Russian media is running the story and some video (some videos are also popping up on YouTube.)

http://english.ruvr....ver-Cuba-VIDEO/

Looks like the date of that video is circa 2006. I have yet to see any conclusive proof that anything even happened. No solid testimony, no solid videos or pictures. I'd still call this one a hoax.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGxFBUdWROQ

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