APOD: Fireball in the Arctic (2017 Dec 25)

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APOD Robot
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APOD: Fireball in the Arctic (2017 Dec 25)

Post by APOD Robot » Mon Dec 25, 2017 5:11 am

Image Fireball in the Arctic

Explanation: Something very bright suddenly lit up the arctic -- what was it? The original idea was to take a series of aurora images that could be made into a time-lapse video. But when night suddenly turned into day, the astrophotographer quickly realized that he was seeing something even more spectacular. Moving through the sky -- in front of the Big Dipper no less -- was a Geminid meteor so bright it could be called a fireball. The meteor brightened and flashed for several seconds as it went. By a stroke of good fortune, the aurora camera was able to capture the whole track. Taken the night after the Geminids Meteor Shower peaked, the astrophotographer's location was near Lovozero Lake in Murmansk, Russia, just north of the Arctic Circle.

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Astronymus
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Re: APOD: Fireball in the Arctic (2017 Dec 25)

Post by Astronymus » Mon Dec 25, 2017 10:09 am

And a smaller one above it. And lots of satellites.
»Only a dead Earth is a good Earth.«

Boomer12k
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Re: APOD: Fireball in the Arctic (2017 Dec 25)

Post by Boomer12k » Mon Dec 25, 2017 10:31 am

Are you sure it wasn't SANTA, checking out the new SLEIGH??? Gotta use high heat resistant ceramics, and rockets now days to make all the deliveries... the work just keeps piling up....

Great image...my father sometimes would see a fireball early in the morning on his way fishing...
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rizamuharram
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Re: APOD: Fireball in the Arctic (2017 Dec 25)

Post by rizamuharram » Wed Dec 27, 2017 1:24 pm

Woah, so bright!