Every December, Earth plows through a dusty lane of debris in space, and the night becomes illuminated by streaks of meteors. This year's Geminids meteor shower peaked around Dec. 13, with generally favorable viewing thanks to a relatively dim moon.

The beauty of the Geminids was captured by astrophotographers worldwide, including well-known astrophotographer Josh Dury.

What is it?

A meteor isn't a "falling star" but instead a piece of space grit, usually no bigger than a grain of sand, hitting the Earth's atmosphere at tens of miles per second and vaporizing in a bright, brief flare.

The point from which the Geminids appear to originate (also called the radiant) sits in the constellation Gemini, near the bright star Castor, which is why the meteor shower is named the Geminids.

Where is it?

This image was taken on the south coast of England, U.K.

Why is it amazing?

According to Dury's instagram post on this image: "The Geminids are strange; unlike most meteor showers, they are not debris from a comet, but rather - an asteroid." The asteroid in question is 3200 Phaethon, which is known to act more like a comet than an asteroid.

"This narrative of asteroid fragments raining down conjured the image for me of the extinction of the dinosaurs when the Chicxulub asteroid impacted with the Earth," Dury told Space.com. "Utilizing this year's meteor shower over the fossilized dinosaur tracks, I was able to reconstruct the morbid scene that might well have been the final scene before life on earth changed as we know it."

Want to learn more?

You can learn more about meteor showers and astrophotography.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to correct the image location. The photo was taken on the south coast of England, not near the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.

What is it?

A bright meteor, also called a fireball, is seen falling into Earth's atmosphere. From the perspective of the camera, it appears in the sky above the dome of Kitt Peak National Observatory.

Where is it?

Kitt Peak National Observatory is in the Sonoran Desert, in Tucson, Arizona. The area was chosen for its access to dark skies and its altitude — over a mile (2.1 kilometers) above sea level — placing the telescope above most of our planet's thick atmosphere.

Why is it amazing?

According to NOIRLab (National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory), which, like, Kitt Peak is a project of the National Science Foundation, a meteor streak has to be brighter than how the planets appear in the sky (an apparent magnitude of –4 or brighter) to be considered a "fireball."

Where can I learn more?

You can read more about meteors and learn when meteor showers are expected this year. You can also read more about Kitt Peak National Observatory.

As we approach the peak of the Geminid meteor shower overnight on Friday (Dec. 13), the skies are beginning to light up with impressive meteors striking Earth's atmosphere. But Earth isn't the only target; the moon is regularly bombarded with such meteors, and Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, has captured some of the most recent collisions.

Fujii documented meteor impacts on the moon on Dec. 6, Dec. 7 and twice on Dec. 8, 2024, using cameras set to monitor Earth's nearest neighbor. You can view some of his lunar impact videos (as well as some impressive fireballs) on his X account.

"There was another lunar impact flash tonight. I filmed it at 360fps from my home at 22:34:35 on December 8, 2024 (slow playback) and was able to confirm it with multiple telescopes. Bright meteors and fireballs have been appearing every day, but lunar impact flashes have also been captured one after another," Fujii wrote in a post on X on Dec. 8.

This isn't the first time Fuijii has witnessed such an impact. In February 2023, he recorded another impressive video of a meteor smashing into the moon.

Related: Geminid meteor shower 2024: When, where and how to see one of the best meteor showers of the year

It's unclear if the recent lunar impacts captured by Fujii are the product of the Geminid meteor shower or simply the result of sporadic meteors. When asked about the possible origin of these meteors, Robert Lunsford, of the American Meteor Society, told EarthSky, "While it’s a bit early for strong Geminid activity, it's possible that these are Geminid meteors as they are striking the moon from the expected direction."

Lunsford suggested that, if they are indeed Geminid meteors, the rate of lunar strikes is quite extraordinary, as even during the Geminid maximum, it's more typical to see less than one visible strike per night.

Given the moon's history with Geminid impacts, there is a good chance that at least some of these meteor strikes were Geminids. In 2015, NASA published a study on Geminid meteor shower lunar impact observations and found 19 such strikes in 2006 and 21 in 2010. Astonishingly, 55% of all impacts witnessed on the moon in 2010 were attributed to the Geminids.

However, Fuijii is not ruling out the possibility that they are simply sporadic meteors. "Given the position of the radiant, there is a possibility that these lunar impact flashes are associated with the Geminid meteor shower. However, since sporadic meteors still outnumber Geminids in ground-based meteor observations, they may be sporadic meteors," Fujii told EarthSky.

Why do the impacts look like bright flashes?

As the moon has virtually no atmosphere, when an object strikes the moon it does so at high speeds with nothing to slow it down. When a meteoroid collides with the moon, most of the energy from the impact is converted into heat and the formation of a crater. A smaller amount of the energy, however, is released as visible light, creating a bright flash at the collision site, according to NASA

If you want to keep a watchful eye on our lunar companion check out our moon viewing guide. Looking for some new gear? Our best telescopes guide and best binoculars guide are a great place to start.

The Perseid meteor shower peaks overnight on Aug. 11 and Aug. 12, high rates of Perseid meteors can also be expected during the nights surrounding the peak. The best time to look for Perseids is in the predawn hours. 

If you missed the Perseids last night or are unable to look for them in person, check out this free livestream hosted by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project. The livestream uses the project's all-sky camera, giving you a front-seat view of the dark skies over Maciano, Italy.

The livestream will begin at 9 p.m. EDT on Aug. 12 (0100 GMT on Aug. 13), weather permitting. You can watch all the action unfold here on Space.com courtesy of the Virtual Telescope Project, or directly on their WebTV page or YouTube channel.

"This year, the sky will offer perfect conditions (no moon interference), so don't miss the show!" according to the Virtual Telescope Project.

The Perseids are an an annual meteor shower visible between mid-July to late August. They are one of the most prolific meteor showers of the year, providing skywatchers with ample opportunities to catch a glimpse of a shooting star during the warmer summer nights. 

The meteor shower is caused by debris left behind by comet Swift-Tuttle, the largest object known to repeatedly pass by Earth. It last swung by our planet in 1992 and won't return until 2126. As Earth passes through the comet debris, fragments of rock and ice enter Earth's atmosphere at speeds of up to 130,000 mph (209,000 kph), about 85 times the top speed of a jet fighter. These speeds cause the air in front of the debris to compress and heat up to thousands of degrees. This results in the dazzling trails of bright light known as meteors, or "shooting stars". 

Meteor showers are named after the constellation from which the meteors appear to radiate from. From Earth's perspective, the Perseids appear from approximately the direction of the Northern Hemisphere constellation Perseus.

Though the moon will be approximately 50% illuminated during the peak this weekend, it will set around midnight, paving the way for dark skies until dawn, perfect for Perseid hunting.

Editor's note:  If you capture a stunning photo or video of the Perseid meteor shower and want to share it with Space.com for a possible story, send images, videos, and comments on the view and your location, as well as use permissions to spacephotos@space.com.

The Geminid meteor shower stunned in its first of two peak nights in 2023.

Photos from around the world showed Geminid meteors streaking through the sky overnight on Wednesday (Dec. 13), and more "shooting stars" are expected on Thursday (Dec. 14). The new moon, only two days old, should allow for peaks of as much as 100 meteors per hour this year, according to SpaceWeather.com.

Webcasts are also available to check out the show if you can't get outside or you're clouded out. Both the the Slooh telescope network and the Virtual Telescope Project in Rome, Italy are expected to livestream the shower online, pending weather.

Related: Meteor showers 2023: When is the next one?

Meteors are little bits of space dust that harmlessly fly at high speed into Earth's atmosphere, creating streaks of light as they burn away. Meteor showers tend to be associated with a particular space body; in the case of the Geminids, the source is an asteroid or space rock known as 3200 Phaethon. Every December, Earth runs into the stream of debris the asteroid leaves behind, bringing a new wave of crumbs into our atmosphere that shine as shooting stars.

Photographers worldwide watched the celestial spectacle this year, including Thilina Kaluthotage who caught the shower from Ratnapura, Sri Lanka.

The Geminids are among the only major shower not caused by debris from a comet.

The meteors were also seen above Yosemite National Park in California.

Photographer Fatih Aktas saw the shower over Lanoka Harbor in New Jersey.

Geminids and in some cases, auroras shone in the night sky of users of X (formerly Twitter), who posted the results online.

The official X account of the Stongehenge monument in Salisbury, England posted an image of Geminids seen above the iconic prehistoric landmark.

Amateur astronomer "Astro Mike" took to X to post a stunning timelapse image of dozens of Geminid meteors

Readers also sent in their amazing meteor shots to Space.com.

"Unfortunately got too cold for me," photographer Matthew Borchert told Space.com of his photo taken near Marietta, Minnesota on Dec. 13 at about 10 p.m. "But I did get this single shot that I like," he added.

"Went out for 7 hours last night and this morning," photographer Tyler Levitt told Space.com of his images, taken in the Joshua Tree forest roughly 45 minutes south of Las Vegas. 

"Saw hundreds of meteors, with several dozen bright enough to capture in these images," Levitt wrote. "Some images caught multiple meteors."

If you want to photograph the Geminids or any other meteor shower, be sure to check out our how to photograph meteors and meteor showers guide. And if you need imaging gear, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.

Editor's note: If you snap a great photo of the Geminid meteor shower that you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a story or image gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com. 

The Geminid meteor shower of 2023 is here, and it looks to be one of the year's best celestial fireworks displays.

Thanks to a dark two-day old new moon and generally favorable weather conditions throughout the United States, Thursday (Dec. 14) looks to be another a great night to catch the peak of this annual meteor shower. Already, the peak overnight on Wednesday (Dec. 13) put on a show for meteor hunters worldwide. Skywatchers in areas with reasonably dark skies could see as many as 100 meteors per hour this year, according to SpaceWeather.com.

If you are unable to brave the cold December night or don't have clear skies, you can still catch the Geminid meteor shower tonight thanks to free online livestreams hosted by the Slooh telescope network and the Virtual Telescope Project in Rome, Italy. 

Related: Meteor showers 2023: When is the next one?

Slooh robotic telescopes

The Slooh robotic telescope network is hosting a free livestream of the Geminid meteor shower beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST (2230 GMT) on Thursday (Dec. 14). 

Slooh operates a network of telescopes in Chile and the Canary islands. The organization hosts livestream webcasts such as this one and also allows users to rent time on their telescopes.

Virtual Telescope Project

The Virtual Telescope Project is operated by astronomer Gianluca Masi. Tonight (Dec. 13), Masi will host a livestream of the Geminid meteor shower beginning at 6 p.m. EST (2300 GMT) on Thursday (Dec. 14). 

"This year, the moon will be new, so not visible in the sky, offering the best, darkest conditions for a memorable experience. We can expect about 100 meteors per hour," Masi writes on the project's website.

The Geminid meteor shower gets its name from the Gemini constellation, the area in the sky from which the meteors appear to originate (also called its radiant point). The Geminids are noteworthy in that, unlike other meteor showers, they are created not by debris from a comet but by leftovers of 3200 Phaëthon, an Earth-crossing Apollo asteroid with an orbit that brings it closer to the sun than any other named asteroid. 

If you hope to take some of your own photographs of the Geminids or any other meteor shower, be sure to check out our how to photograph meteors and meteor showers guide. And if you need imaging gear for the next big celestial spectacle, consider our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.

Editor's note: If you snap a great photo of the Geminid meteor shower that you'd like to share with Space.com and our news partners for a story or image gallery, send images and comments to spacephotos@space.com.

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical "Skyscapes" that connect both Earth and the night sky. 

Astrophotographer Miguel Claro of Lisbon, Portugal was lucky enough to capture an amazing combination of night sky events.

During this year's Perseid meteor shower, Claro set up a 360-degree camera in order to photograph the full night sky as fireballs streaked overhead. The clear, unilluminated skies of Portugal's Alqueva Dark Sky Reserve offered unobstructed views of not only Perseid meteors burning up in Earth's atmosphere, but also the white light of the Milky Way galaxy and the ghostly glow of zodiacal light.

Zodiacal light is caused by the sun's rays reflecting off of dust scattered throughout the solar system left over from collisions from small bodies such as asteroids and comets. It can be seen in the image below as a belt of wispy light to the right of center, stretching both below and above the bright pinpoint of Jupiter in the lower right portion of the sky.

Related: Meteor showers 2023: When is the next one?
Read more: How to photograph meteors and meteor showers

The image, viewable in full 360 degrees on Claro's website, is actually a composite, a mosaic made from photographs taken across four consecutive nights. Over 100 meteors can be seen in the image, all appearing to originate from their radiant (the point in the sky where meteors seem to come from due to our perspective) located in Perseus constellation.

Behind the meteors burning up in Earth's atmosphere, the bright glow of the Milky Way can be seen lighting up the sky. The glow of the zodiacal light shines above the Pleiades star cluster and the bright light of planet Jupiter. For another rotated version of Claro's composite image, click here. 

To see more of Miguel Claro's work, please see his website or follow his stories on Instagram at www.instagram.com/miguel_claro .

Editor's Note: If you snap your own photos of the night sky and would like to share them with Space.com’s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Miguel Claro is a professional photographer, author and science communicator based in Lisbon, Portugal, who creates spectacular images of the night sky. As a European Southern Observatory Photo Ambassador and member of The World At Night and the official astrophotographer of the Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve, he specializes in astronomical "Skyscapes" that connect both Earth and the night sky. Join Miguel here as he takes us through his new video, "Make A Wish ... The Perseids are Coming."

The Perseid meteor shower is coming, with a peak happening this weekend (Aug. 12-13). 

The spectacular meteor shower or "shooting star" show has an estimated average of 100 meteors per hour, and is one of the best of the year. This year, the new moon will help with the night show visibility. 

Claro's stunning video shows meteors accurately aligned with the stars in a 360-degree virtual reality scene. I captured it during the Perseids show in 2021, from one of our dark skies in Portugal. Do watch it with sound on.

Related: Perseid meteor shower 2023: When, where & how to see it
Read more: Meteor showers 2023: When is the next one?

Meteor showers are events stemming from swarms of meteors. Meteors are flecks of dust, often from asteroids or comets, flying into Earth's atmosphere at high speed. The Perseid meteors appear to come from a spot, or radiant, in the Perseus constellation. The Perseids' actual source in space, however, is Comet Swift-Tuttle.

The Perseids tend to be most visible late in the night, and you can see them best from about 45 degrees away from the radiant. Look in any direction up to the zenith — that's straight up. If you're looking for a good spot to watch, try to find dark places like Dark Sky Alqueva Reserve in Portugal.

Ready to explore the sky with top-notch equipment? Check out our guides on the best telescopes and best binoculars. You can also get great imaging gear using the best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography.

To see more of Miguel Claro's work, please see his website or follow his stories on Instagram at www.instagram.com/miguel_claro.

Editor's Note: If you snap your own photos of the sky and would like to share them with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

The Orionids put on quite a show this year.

This year's Orionid meteor shower saw optimal conditions for catching brilliant Orionid fireballs streak overhead, as the moon was only 17% illuminated in a waning crescent phase during the shower's peak overnight from Oct. 20 to Oct. 21.

As their name implies, the Orionids appear to originate in the Orion constellation, near the "club" held by Orion, the hunter. In the Northern Hemisphere, these meteors appear in the southwestern sky, while skywatchers in the Southern Hemisphere can see them in the northwestern sky.

Related: Meteor showers 2022: Where, when and how to see them

The Orionid meteor shower is one of the more reliable meteor showers and is known to produce dozens of meteors per hour. This shower is perhaps one of the best-known meteor showers, due to the fact that it is produced in October each year as Earth passes through the debris left in the wake of Halley's Comet. 

As these fragments of the comet enter Earth's atmosphere, their high speed ignites the air in front of them due to the effects of drag (friction), creating brilliant streaks of light that can last up to several seconds as they appear to "shoot" across the sky.

Space.com received numerous photos of this year's Orionid meteor shower submitted by our readers. As you can see, this year's shower produced some stunning fireballs that many skywatchers were lucky enough to catch on camera.

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.  

While studying diamonds inside an ancient meteorite, scientists have found a strange, interwoven microscopic structure that has never been seen before. 

The structure, an interlocking form of graphite and diamond, has unique properties that could one day be used to develop superfast charging or new types of electronics, researchers say. 

The diamond structures were locked inside the Canyon Diablo meteorite, which slammed into Earth 50,000 years ago and was first discovered in Arizona in 1891. The diamonds in this meteorite aren't the kind most people are familiar with. Most known diamonds were formed around 90 miles (150 kilometers) beneath Earth's surface, where temperatures rise to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit (1,093 degrees Celsius). The carbon atoms within these diamonds are arranged in cubic shapes.

By contrast, the diamonds inside the Canyon Diablo meteorite are known as lonsdaleite — named after British crystallographer Dame Kathleen Lonsdale, University College London's first female professor — and have a hexagonal crystal structure. These diamonds form only under extremely high pressures and temperatures. Although scientists have successfully made lonsdaleite in a lab — using gunpowder and compressed air to propel graphite disks 15,000 mph (24,100 km/h) at a wall — lonsdaleite is otherwise formed only when asteroids strike Earth at enormously high speeds. 

Related: Diamond hauled from deep inside Earth holds never-before-seen mineral 

While studying lonsdaleite in the meteorite, the researchers found something odd. Instead of the pure hexagonal structures they were expecting, the researchers found growths of another carbon-based material called graphene interlocking with the diamond. These growths are known as diaphites, and inside the meteorite, they form in a particularly intriguing layered pattern. In between these layers are "stacking faults," which mean the layers don't line up perfectly, the researchers said in a statement.  

Finding diaphites in the meteoritic lonsdaleite suggests that this material can be found in other carbonaceous material, the scientists wrote in the study, which means it could be readily available to use as a resource. The finding also gives the researchers a better sense of the pressures and temperatures needed to create the structure. 

Graphene is made of a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, arranged in hexagons. Although research on this material is still ongoing, the material has many potential applications. Because it is both as light as a feather and as strong as a diamond; both transparent and highly conductive; and 1 million times thinner than a human hair, it could one day be used for more targeted medicines, tinier electronics with lighting-fast charging speeds, or faster and bendier technology, the researchers said.

And now that researchers have discovered these graphene growths inside meteorites, it's possible to learn more about how they form — and thus how to make them in the lab.

"Through the controlled layer growth of structures, it should be possible to design materials that are both ultra-hard and also ductile, as well as have adjustable electronic properties from a conductor to an insulator," Christoph Salzmann, a chemist at University College London and co-author of a paper describing the research, said in the statement. 

The strange new structures were described July 22 in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Originally published on Live Science.

Bright "shooting stars" from a new meteor shower lit up the night sky in a dazzling display overnight Monday and Tuesday, even if it wasn't a "meteor storm" some stargazers hoped for.

The new meteor shower peaked around midnight Tuesday (May 31) as remnants from the shattered Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (also known as SW 3) burned up harmlessly high in Earth's atmosphere as a part of scientists now wall the tau Herculids meteor shower.

While the shooting star fiesta never hit "meteor storm" conditions (with up to 1,000 meteors an hour), it did produce enough luminous meteors to catch attention around the world. (NASA had warned the storm would only happen if debris was moving faster than 220 mph or 321 km/h, and its meteor expert Bill Cooke cautioned it was an "all or nothing event."

Related: The greatest meteor storms of all time

"It was not the expected storm, but the Earth clearly crossed a cloud of dust from the comet," the French Network of Amateur Observers of Meteors (BOAM) wrote on Twitter along with a timelapse image of shooting stars. (The translation from French was performed by Space.com.)

Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice 

NASA engineer Tim Reyes, who is based in Silicon Valley, was out for several hours observing tau Herculids. Posting his observations and an image on his personal Twitter account, he said, "No storm level, above average shower [and] short duration, about three hours." 

The peak was also half an hour later than its forecast, Reyes said, happening at 10:30 p.m. PDT (1:30 a.m. EDT or 0550 GMT).

Numerous other observers caught the storm around the United States, along with images and in some cases, other celestial objects such as the Milky Way. Observations were helped along by a new moon, and in the Americas, the radiant out of the Hercules constellation was high in the sky and away from thicker atmospheric conditions near the horizon.

If you missed the show, consult our upcoming meteor showers of 2022 to figure out when next to look up. August is usually a great time, as this year the bright Perseids peak around Aug. 11 to 12.

If you're hoping to photograph any meteor shower, or want to prepare your gear for the next skywatching event, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out your photo session.

Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice 

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of the tau Herculids meteor shower and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

Should we be getting ready for a meteor storm tonight?

While predictions are still all over the place about how many shooting stars will be generated from 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3, it appears a few meteors could have fallen into our atmosphere already as Earth plows into the debris stream.

The tau Herculids, as the new meteor shower is called, is expected to peak with possible storm conditions tonight (May 30 to 31). They have likely already been spotted in numerous countries in projects led by Spain and NASA.

Spain's Fireballs and Meteorites Research Network (SPMN), coordinated by Dr. Josep M. Trigo-Rodríguez from the Institute of Space Sciences (CSIC-IEEC), spotted a couple of shooting stars probably associated with the event Friday (May 27) and posted a thread on Twitter with videos.

"Ready for the campaign?" one of the tweets said, along with footage of a slow-moving meteor getting quite bright in an all-sky camera. (The Spanish was translated by Space.com.)

Related: How to watch the potential tau Herculids meteor storm live online tonight

The first bolide was recorded at 7:57 p.m. EDT (2357 GMT) from three separate locations, all caught on camera. Those viewing spots were in Aragon (northeastern Spain) and recorded by Antonio Lasala, from Madrid by Jaime Zamorano, and from Valencia by Jordi Donet.

"These aggregates, when disintegrating ... have a markedly slow angular speed and create a train of fragments; useful characteristics to identify them," the network tweeted along with footage of the Valencian meteor.

The NASA-sponsored Cameras for Allsky Meteor Surveillance (CAMS) also recorded probable tau Herculids from Friday (May 27) through Sunday (May 29). The project is hosted by the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute and led by Peter Jenniskens, a research scientist for SETI.

While CAMS said the early show might be a prelude to "further enhancement" of a meteor shower, the network noted it is unclear (and "perhaps" unlikely) that the meteors spotted so far are related to the 1995 breakup of the comet that might generate a storm in the sky tonight. In other words, there's no firm indication yet that there would be a lot of meteors coming up, although that may change.

Five tau Herculids were spotted Friday at CAMS locations in Texas, Arizona, Namibia and BeNeLux (between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg), CAMS reported. On Saturday, meteors were spotted at CAMS locations in Namibia, Arkansas and Arizona, then more were found Sunday (May 29) at CAMS locations in Namibia, Chile, Arkansas, Arizona and California.

The peak brightness for these tau Herculids was -3 magnitude (brighter than the star Sirius at -1.47), although some shooting stars were as faint as magnitude 13. For comparison, a typical observer in dark sky conditions can see stars as faint as magnitude 6 with their naked eye.

"Some of these were bright enough to be photographed, but overall the distribution implies a shower rich in faint meteors," the network said. Most of the meteors were close to the magnitude 4 detection limit of typical video cameras in the network, CAMS added.

If you're ready to look for the sky show for yourself, watch around 1 a.m. on the east coast Tuesday (May 31) or 10 p.m. on the west coast Monday (May 30). NASA suggests people look at the constellation Boötes, somewhat north-northwest of its bright star Arcturus. (These are the International Astronomical Union names, but your culture may have different ones.)  

Meteor showers, happily, are a regular thing. So if the tau Herculids are faint or fizzle altogether, get read instead for the next ones using our upcoming meteor showers of 2022. August is one to look forward to, as the bright Perseids peak Aug. 11 and 12.

If you're hoping to photograph the tau Herculid meteor shower, or want to prepare your gear for the next skywatching event, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out your photo session.

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of the tau Herculids meteor shower and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

When the shards of a broken-up comet draw near Earth tonight, the chances of a meteor storm are "hit or miss", NASA says. But astronomers are excited about the potential of a swarm of new shooting stars nonetheless.

The agency advises skywatchers to watch the constellation Hercules tonight (May 30 to 31) for signs of pieces of 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (also known as SW 3). If the shards come to Earth just right, they may create quite the show high up in our planet's atmosphere.

But NASA says it's important to keep your expectations open. "We get excited about meteor showers, too," the agency wrote in a blog post May 27. "But sometimes events like this don’t live up to expectations — it happened with the 2019 Alpha Monocerotid shower, for example."

Back then, the most optimistic predictions said there could be an outburst of 400 to 1,000 meteors per hour, although the agency did warn in 2019 that the show could end up being a bust. That's what ended up happening, so NASA urges people to "channel their inner scientists, and look beyond the headlines," to make sure they're prepared for their night out under the stars.

If you are unable to see the event in person, you can watch the potential tau Herculids meteor storm online tonight with a livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project.

Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice 

Some of the keys to success for this shower will include the debris traveling at the right speed (no slower than 220 mph or 321 km/h) and whether the Earth passes through the thickest part of the debris stream. 

Incidentally, footage from the NASA Spitzer Space Telescope suggests at least some fragments were moving fast enough in 2009, which is "one reason why astronomers were so excited," the agency said.

Even if the meteors strike our atmosphere, however, the tau Herculids are moving slowly by meteor standards and will generate a faint show, NASA warned. Previously, NASA astronomer Bill Cooke also called the potential meteor shower an "all or nothing event" in an agency blog post.

While there will be a new moon that allows for the best seeing possible, and Hercules will be high in the sky and away from the thick atmosphere on the horizon, the agency emphasized there are no guarantees. "We can only hope it's spectacular," NASA said.

You should also take into account your local weather forecast. Coastal California between San Francisco and Portland, for example, should have overall clear skies except for possible clouds inland from Humboldt Bay, the National Weather Service tweeted Sunday (May 29).

Independent meteorologist Mark Molnar included a complete cloud cover map prediction for the United States on Sunday, showing clear skies predicted for most areas aside from parts of the northwest.

The peak time to watch is around 1 a.m. on the east coast or 10 p.m. on the west coast, according to NASA. For your best sighting possible, bring a lawn chair, move away from artificial lights as much as possible, and give your eyes at least 20 minutes to adjust to the darkness. If you must use a flashlight or your phone, make sure to use a red filter to preserve your night vision.

The agency suggests people look to the constellation Boötes, a little north-northwest of its bright star Arcturus, to see shooting stars. (Your culture may use different names for these regions, for which we are using the International Astronomical Union monikers.)

Don't worry if the tau Herculids don't end up happening as planned, however, as meteor showers happen fairly often. August is a good bet as the Perseids on Aug. 11 to 12 are among the brightest events of the year. Consult our upcoming meteor showers of 2022 to plan your next excursion. 

If you're hoping to photograph the tau Herculid meteor shower, or want to prepare your gear for the next skywatching event, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out your photo session.

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of the tau Herculids meteor shower and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

There might be a meteor shower emerging from Hercules tonight (May 30-31), so keep your eyes peeled on the region.

Astronomers are keeping an eye on the shards of broken-up comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (also known as SW 3) to see if that generates a stream of little space rocks harmlessly blasting into Earth's atmosphere.

If you cannot see the event in person, you can watch the potential tau Herculids meteor storm online tonight with a livestream from the Virtual Telescope Project.

Previously, NASA astronomer Bill Cooke called the potential meteor shower milestone an "all or nothing event" in an agency blog post.

"If the debris from SW 3 was traveling more than 220 miles [354 kilometers] per hour when it separated from the comet, we might see a nice meteor shower," Bill Cooke, who leads NASA's meteoroid environment office at the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, said in the statement.

"If the debris had slower ejection speeds," Cooke added, "then nothing will make it to Earth and there will be no meteors from this comet."

 Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice 

Another factor behind whether we will see a "storm" or not will be whether Earth passes through the thickest part of the comet's debris stream. The stream is subject to the gravitational forces of our planet, the moon, the sun and other planets in our solar system, so that is hard to predict.

But things that are working in North Americans' favor include the new moon, meaning that there is less natural light pollution to interfere with observations and the fact that Hercules rides high in the sky overnight (away from atmospheric interference low on the horizon.)

The place to watch for the potential meteors would be the constellation Boötes, a little north-northwest of its bright star Arcturus. (These are the International Astronomical Union names for the constellation and star, respectively, although you may use different names depending on your culture.)

The comet has a temperamental history. The comet displayed bursts of brightness in years such as 1995 and 2000 during fragmentation and shed before observatories such as the Hubble Space Telescope and the Spitzer Space Telescope. There are at least 68 pieces associated with the comet as of its last appearance in 2017.

The comet was discovered 92 years ago by German astronomers, Friedrich Carl Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann on May 2, 1930, and was the third co-discovered small world by that pair.

The comet comes as close to Earth as 5.7 million miles (9.2 million km), orbiting the sun roughly every 5.4 years, according to Space.com astronomy columnist Joe Rao. 

If the meteor shower doesn't pan out as planned, or you get clouded out or busy, instead consider some upcoming meteor showers of 2022 to plan your next excursion. The next major one is the Perseids on Aug. 11 to 12, among the brightest events of the year.

If you're hoping to photograph the tau Herculid meteor shower, or want to prepare your gear for the next skywatching event, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out your photo session.

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of the tau Herculids meteor shower and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

New for 2022, the tau Herculid meteor shower may make an appearance on the night of May 30-31. 

Sometimes, astronomy can be full of surprises. Take the case of a tiny comet, normally far too faint to be seen without the help of a telescope. But in 1995, it suddenly and quite unexpectedly brightened up to become dimly visible with the naked eye. 

Come the end of May, things could turn exciting, thanks again to this same tiny comet. On that night, a new meteor shower — the tau Herculids — might erupt, perhaps ranking with the best of the annual meteor displays. 

Yet, there is also a small chance of something extraordinary — perhaps one of the most dramatic meteor displays since the spectacular Leonid meteor showers of more than 20 years ago. 

Or perhaps nothing at all will be seen. 

Related: Meteor shower guide 2022: Dates and viewing advice 

How it all started

This rather compelling story begins 92 years ago, on the night of May 2, 1930. Two German astronomers, Friedrich Carl Arnold Schwassmann and Arno Arthur Wachmann were exposing plates at the Hamburg Observatory in Bergedorf, Germany to catalog new asteroids, when they accidentally stumbled across the image of a new comet. This was the third such discovery the two men made, the others in 1927 and 1929.

After discovery, orbital data for comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (which from here on we will refer to as 'SW 3') show it passing only 5.7 million miles (9.2 million km) from Earth on May 31. Despite its very close flyby, however, comet SW 3 never got bright enough to be visible with the naked eye; it could only be glimpsed with good binoculars or a telescope. 

And even though comet SW 3 orbits the sun about every 5.4-years, after 1930 it was missing in action for quite a while. In fact, between 1935 and 1974, SW 3 came and went eight times without being sighted. It was not seen again until March 1979. Its next return, in January 1985 was missed, but it was recovered again early in 1990.

Full of surprises

Astronomers expected comet SW 3 to make another uneventful return in the fall of 1995. But during early October, the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams suddenly began receiving 'numerous reports from observers worldwide of independent discoveries' of a naked-eye comet, low in the western evening twilight and sporting a dust tail 1 degree long. 

But this wasn't a "new" comet at all — it was SW 3!

This was astonishing because the comet never came closer to Earth in 1995 than 122 million miles (196 million km). By all rights, it should have been visible only with moderately large telescopes. And yet there it was, shining 6.5 magnitudes brighter than anticipated — a nearly 400-fold increase in brightness! As for what caused this tremendous outburst, observations in December of SW 3 made at the European Southern Observatory in La Silla, Chile revealed that its tiny nucleus had fractured into four parts. 

The comet was still quite bright on its next visit in the fall of 2000, showing that two of the fragments spotted in 1995 had returned, together with a new one, which probably broke off during the 1995 return. 

In the spring of 2006, the disintegrating comet made its return appearance, initially showing at least eight remnants, and some of the fragments were themselves forming their own sub-fragments. 

On April 18, 2006, the Hubble Space Telescope recorded dozens of fragments. Between May 4th and 6th, it was the Spitzer Space Telescope's turn to image the comet; using its Infrared Array Camera (IRAC) it was able to observe 45 of 58 comet chunks. In all, SW 3 ultimately broke into more than 68 fragments and at its most recent appearance in March 2017 it showed signs that it's continuing to break apart and shedding new pieces with each return through the inner solar system. 

Comet crumbs

A disintegrating comet with an orbit that comes very close to our Earth, opens up a discussion about the possibility of a new meteor shower being spawned. The chance of interacting with the dross of a fragmented comet may sound familiar and indeed, most astronomy texts often refer to the famous case regarding the splitting of comet Biela in 1842 or early 1843 and its association with spectacular "Andromedid" meteor storms occurring in 1872 and again in 1885. The question is, might we hope in 2022 for a similar performance resulting from the 1995 break-up of SW 3? 

Three important factors were considered: 

• When the comet fragmented in 1995, a tremendous expulsion of dust particles was ejected into space.  
• When SW 3's nucleus broke apart, particles were likely ejected into space in all directions. Small particles the size of pebbles and sand grains are normally pushed behind the comet by the pressure of sunlight. But larger gravel and nugget-sized bits are not affected by solar radiation, so they end up on paths closer to the sun. The closer a celestial body is to the sun, the faster it will move in its orbit (gravity insists upon that; that's fundamental natural law). So, in time, these larger bits and pieces pass by the comet as they move in smaller orbits and thus, move out ahead of the comet.  
• For those larger pieces to attain this faster orbit, they need to be ejected into space at nearly 60 m.p.h. (26.71 meters per second). Typically, this speed is a bit on the high side, but the sudden breakup of the comet's nucleus in 1995 and its resultant outburst of material might have been just potent enough to produce this necessary speed. 

As a consequence, those larger particles expelled in 1995 may have migrated to a position forward of the comet, not behind. And particles positioned ahead of the comet is the necessary ingredient for a meteor outburst.  

Studies by teams of reputable meteor shower experts, including one from Germany, and others from Japan, France, as well as by this author, have all come to the same conclusion: Earth will have a direct interaction with material released from the splitting of SW 3 at the end of May 1995. And the possibility of a new, never-before-seen meteor display appears especially promising. A consensus of the various predictions all points to 05:00 UT/GMT on Tuesday, May 31.

That translates to 1 a.m. EDT on Tuesday, May 31, or 10 p.m. PDT on Monday, May 30.  

If you're hoping to photograph the tau Herculid meteor shower, or want to prepare your gear for the next skywatching event, check out our best cameras for astrophotography and best lenses for astrophotography. Read our guide on how to photograph meteors and meteor showers for more helpful tips to plan out you photo session.

Visibility: Radiant and moonlight

If this meteor outburst comes to pass, their possible radiant, or emanation point would be positioned within the boundaries of the constellation of Boötes the Herdsman, about 6 degrees north-northwest of the brilliant yellow-orange star, Arcturus. 

As for the zone of visibility, a large portion of the contiguous United States, south-central and eastern Canada (including the Maritime Provinces), Mexico, Central and South America and a small slice of West Africa are the regions of the world well-positioned for this event. In the U.S. the altitude of the radiant ranges from around halfway up in the western sky in eastern New England to nearly overhead in southern California and the Desert Southwest.

Across parts of the Pacific Northwest, the northern Rockies and Great Plains, as well as for a slice of the Canadian Prairies, northern Ontario, central Quebec, most of Newfoundland and Labrador, the peak is expected to come during astronomical twilight (sun 12 to 18 degrees below the horizon), but the sky should still be sufficiently dark for sighting the brighter stars as well as any bright meteors. 

Unfortunately, for far western and northern North America, as well as for the rest of the globe, the sky will either be too bright, bathed in sunlight or facing away from any incoming meteors, precluding a view of any possible display. 

As far as the moon is concerned, it will be new on May 30. So, the skies will be dark. 

What will we see?

That is the $64,000 question. This will be the first time the Earth and the comet debris shed in 1995 have come together since the fragmentation event, but we can't see where the meteoroids have spread to (until we run into them), so it is hard to predict exactly how much the Earth might encounter as we cross the comet's path this month. It all depends on whether the debris has spread far enough out ahead of the comet to interact with our planet. If not, we'll see next to nothing at all. 

On the other hand, we might see meteors coming by the dozens; a strong outburst similar in numbers to the annual December Geminids. 

And if we pass through a heavy concentration of comet debris, then there is a possibility of a full-fledged meteor storm! As for how long any outburst might last, it would probably be short-lived; not more than several hours at most.

How to watch

You're going to be outside for a while, as you'll need to wait for your eyes to become dark adapted. A reclining lawn chair is ideal. Be sure to dress for the weather; it might get chillier than what the local forecast suggests so also bring along a blanket. Don't stare at any one part of the sky; keep looking all over.

The most important thing concerning your possible meteor watch is finding a dark site far from any bright lights from which to observe. This will be essential!  

And here is the reason: The particles will encounter the Earth at a very low velocity of just 10 miles (16 km) per second. That's almost as slow as it is possible to hit the Earth from an orbit around the sun. The faster a meteoroid of a given size travels, the brighter it will be, which means that the particles from SW 3 will likely produce very faint meteors, and only the biggest pieces will produce outstandingly bright shooting stars. But given the nature of the fragmentation of SW 3's nucleus, it's possible that plenty of larger bits and pieces among the small ones, so we can't rule out there being lots of spectacular slow-moving fireballs as part of the shower's display.

So, remember: The darker your sky, the more meteors you'll see. 

Good luck and clear skies!

Editor's Note: If you snap an amazing photo of the tau Herculids meteor shower and would like to share it with Space.com's readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.  

This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

Idan Ginsburg, Academic Faculty in Physics & Astronomy, Georgia State University

"I see thy glory like a shooting star."

So says the Earl of Salisbury as he ruminates about the future in Shakespeare's "Richard II."

During the English Renaissance, people believed shooting stars were luminaries falling from the heavens and harbingers of calamity. But by the end of the 19th century, scientists had established the truth to be far more mundane. What today are commonly called shooting or falling stars are simply small pieces of rock or dust that quickly burn up upon entering Earth’s atmosphere.

But nature has a surprise for you — shooting stars really do exist.

I am an astrophysicist who studies celestial mechanics — how objects like stars, planets and galaxies move.

From 2005 to 2014, a monumental observing program incorporating the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and telescopes at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory confirmed a new class of stars that move with such incredible speed that they can escape the gravity of their home galaxies.

Astronomers are just beginning to understand these real-life shooting stars — called hypervelocity stars — that zoom through the cosmos at millions of miles per hour.

Spinning stars and slingshots

The story of hypervelocity stars begins in 1988, when Jack Gilbert Hills, a theoretician at Los Alamos National Labs, had an inspired idea: What would happen if a binary star system — that is, two stars that are gravitationally bound to each other and orbit a common center of mass — traveled near the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way? Hills calculated that the tidal force of the black hole could rend the binary system in two.

Imagine two ice skaters holding hands and spinning around until they all of a sudden let go. The two skaters will fly away from each other. Similarly, when two stars in a binary system are wrenched apart by a close encounter with a black hole, they will fly apart. In such an encounter one star might gain enough energy to be slingshotted out of the galaxy entirely.

Astronomers now know that this is how hypervelocity stars are born.

Theory, observations and simulations

After the publication of Hills' prescient paper, the astronomy community considered hypervelocity stars an intriguing possibility, albeit one without observational evidence. That changed in 2005.

While observing stars in the Milky Way's halo, a team of researchers using the MMT Observatory in Arizona came across something most unexpected. They observed a star escaping the Milky Way at nearly 2 million mph (3.2 million kph). This was HVS1, the first known hypervelocity star.

Observations tell part of the story, but to help answer other questions — such as what happens to the companion after it separates from the hypervelocity star — my adviser and I turned to computer simulations. Our models predict that the other star in the former pair is often left orbiting the black hole in much the same fashion as the Earth orbits the sun.

Another exciting result from these modeling efforts was the discovery that sometimes the two stars can crash into each other. When this happens, the stars may coalesce into one very massive star.

If you were wondering what might befall a planet orbiting one of these stars, we modeled that too. In a short paper from 2012, my colleagues and I showed that the black hole in the center of our galaxy can blast planets out of the Milky Way at nearly 5% the speed of light.

As of today, no hypervelocity planets have been detected, but they very well might be out there, waiting for some happy astronomers to chance upon them.

Not all fast stars leave the galaxy

Utilizing data from the Gaia spacecraft, launched in 2013, my colleagues and I discovered that some of the stars that the astronomy community had previously considered "hypervelocity stars" are in fact likely bound to the Milky Way galaxy.

While this result may sound disappointing, it actually reveals two critical points. First, there are different mechanisms to accelerate stars to high speeds. Today astronomers know of thousands of speedy stars. However, just because a star is moving fast does not necessarily make it a hypervelocity star unbound from the Milky Way. Second, true hypervelocity stars that are escaping the Milky Way may be rarer than previously thought.

The future is bright and fast

I find it beautiful that true shooting stars exist. It's equally amazing that studying their trajectories and velocities can help answer some of the foremost questions in science today.

For instance, hypervelocity stars could offer clues to the nature and distribution of dark matter in the universe. Hypervelocity stars may also be the key to answering whether there is more than one black hole at the center of the galaxy.

My students are using NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite to search for planets around these blisteringly fast stars. The discovery of even one planet around a hypervelocity star will forever change ideas of planetary formation and survivability.

These stars are speedy, but slowly they are shedding light on nature's secrets. While you may not be able to see a real shooting star with your own eyes, you certainly can make a wish upon one.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Follow all of the Expert Voices issues and debates — and become part of the discussion — on Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.  

A village in central Italy is crawling with alien-human hybrids.

These folks were transformed by drinking from a fountain in Fontecchio, a picturesque town in the Abruzzo region. The water flowing from the medieval fountain bubbles with extraterrestrial effervescence, thanks to experimental philosopher Jonathon Keats.

Keats embedded into the hillside above Fontecchio a meteorite — an ordinary chondrite, whose parent body hails from the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. The space rock's alien essence has therefore leached into the village's groundwater and now courses through its pipes.

Related: Alien thinking: The conceptual space art of Jonathon Keats

This was no act of obscure cosmic vandalism. Keats was invited to Fontecchio by a governmental commission led by the Ufficio Speciale per la Ricostruzione dei Comuni del Cratere, as part of a program called Riabitare con l'Arte. He's creating "Fountains of Tolerance," the first of which was unveiled in Fontecchio during a ceremony in August 2021.

The project's overarching goal is to help combat xenophobia and other forms of prejudice, which are on the rise in our increasingly fractured and fractious society.

"When we become alien together, through ingesting this meteoritic material, we are at once becoming more consciously part of the cosmos," Keats told Space.com. "Therefore, there's this enlarging beyond the fact that I'm from one place and you're from another to a recognition that, in fact, we're all from the same place, which is the cosmos. And there's also this sense of how the differences that we perceive are very small in comparison to the similarities that we have."

This broad theme recurs frequently in Keats' work, as does his use of a cosmic canvas to draw it out. In 2017, for example, he and space archaeologist Alice Gorman introduced "cosmic welcome mats," which encouraged intelligent aliens to drop in for a visit — and aimed to boost the overall welcoming quotient of our planet as well.

And there's an even more direct antecedent to the Fountains of Tolerance in Keats' oeuvre. In 2010, he established the Local Air and Space Agency, which, among other activities, sold bottles of mineral water infused with the essence of the moon, Mars and distant stars.

Fountains of Tolerance broadens this hybridization effort, taking it into the public square with no purchase necessary. Fontecchio is a great spot for the first fountain, and not merely because local officials are fully on board with the project. The village lies just a few miles from Sirente Crater, a 425-foot-wide (130 meters) hole in the ground that was likely blasted out by an impactor about 1,700 years ago. 

In fact, some scholars believe that same space rock generated the light in the sky that, as the legend goes, helped convert the Roman emperor Constantine to Christianity in the year 312 CE. The timing matches up, as does the geography; Constantine was just outside Rome, about 62 miles (100 kilometers) from present-day Fontecchio as the crow flies, when the heavenly light blazed up.

Sirente is an important part of the Fountains project. Fontecchio residents have made a variety of drinking cups from the crater's clay to help share the village's perspective-altering water. Those receptacles are being displayed in Fontecchio's archeological museum during a special exhibition called "Vessels of Tolerance," which opened on Friday (Sept. 24).

As Carl Sagan famously noted, we are all made of star stuff — atoms forged in the cores of long-dead, far-off suns. And every year, Earth sucks in more than 5,000 tons of interplanetary dust, some of which makes its way into our lungs and bellies. So you don't necessarily have to make a pilgrimage to central Italy to get a clarifying perspective shift, Keats stressed.

"Fontecchio is a beautiful medieval town, and I hope more people will visit," he said. "But you don't have to go there in order to make the transformation in your state of mind, in terms of becoming alien hybrid. We all already are. And this is simply a space that ideally can help to activate that."

Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook. 

A meteor was caught on camera lighting up the night sky over the southern coast of England on Sunday (Sept. 5).

In the video, viewers can see a bright, fireball-like object shooting across the sky over the Red Funnel Ferry Terminal in Southampton.

The footage was taken Sunday night around 10:45 p.m. BST (0945 GMT, or 5:45 p.m. EDT) and uploaded to Solent Ships YouTube channel - a channel that normally releases content about boats and ships off the coast of Southampton, England. Footage of the meteor was also captured by Hampshire Road Policing Unit and posted on their Twitter. 

Writing on their YouTube page, Solent Ships reported the meteor is believed to have landed in Morgat, Brittany.

Follow Alexander Cox on Twitter @Coxy_97Official. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

The largest piece of Mars ever to fall to Earth is being displayed for the first time.

The hefty chunk of Mars weighs 32 pounds (14.5 kilograms) and measures 10 inches (25 centimeters) across at its widest point. It was unveiled Wednesday (Sept. 1) at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in Bethel, which also houses approximately 6,000 extraterrestrial rocks, including the largest piece of moon rock and the oldest igneous rock, formed from volcanic activity, in the solar system. 

The lump of rock wound up on Earth after a large asteroid or comet blasted it off the Martian surface. 

"Martian rocks can fall to Earth as meteorites," Carl Agee, director of the Institute of Meteoritics at the University of New Mexico, told Live Science. "They are ejected off Mars by large, energetic impact events."

Related: 7 most Mars-like places on Earth

The Martian rock, named Taoudenni 002, is "by far the largest complete uncut Martian meteorite on Earth," said Agee, who was involved in confirming the rock did indeed originate from the Red Planet.

There are around 300 pieces of Martian rock on Earth, totaling around 500 pounds (227 kg). However, collectors often break them apart to sell them separately, so the actual number of known Martian meteorites on Earth is between 100 and 150, Agee said. 

After powerful impacts eject the rocks from Mars, they drift through space and eventually end up on an Earth-crossing orbit around the Sun.

A local meteor hunter discovered Taoudenni 002 near a desert salt mine in Mali before world-leading meteorite dealer Darryl Pitt acquired it for the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum in April 2021. "The meteorite fall was not witnessed, but it was likely recent," Agee said. "In the last few 100 years perhaps," due to its well preserved condition, he added.

After acquiring the meteorite in Mali, Pitt sent a small sample of the rock to Agee to confirm its origin.

Martian meteorites have specific chemical signatures, and the minerals and elements in Taoudenni 002 perfectly matched the known Martian minerals, Agee said.

"It is a shergottite, which is the main type of Martian meteorite," Agee said. "It contains the minerals olivine, pyroxene and shock-transformed feldspar," which formed from the Mars impact that ejected it.

The meteorites' composition also hinted at how the rock was created. "It most likely was formed in a volcanic episode on Mars more than 100 million years ago," Agee said.

Even larger Martian rocks may be hidden on Earth, Agee said, potentially "buried under a sand dune in the Sahara, or deep in the ice in Antarctica, or perhaps at the bottom of the ocean."

Originally published on Live Science.

The hunt for fragments of an "unusually large meteor" that lit up the skies over Norway on 25 July has begun. The meteor awakened awestruck residents of the country's capital city, Oslo, with the sound of a large explosion. 

Footage shows the fireball from the meteor streaking across the sky in a trail of bright flashes at around 1 a.m. local time Sunday morning before it landed somewhere in a forest near Oslo. 

The rumbling of the meteor startled numerous residents and led to calls to Norwegian emergency services, though no injuries or damage have been reported yet, the Norwegian police said. 

Related: Space-y tales: The 5 strangest meteorites

The Norwegian Meteor Network (NMN), a group that monitors meteor activity in the country, has analyzed video footage of the extraplanetary visitor's trajectory to pinpoint its landing site, which the group believes to be somewhere in Finnemarka forest, located 40 miles (60 kilometers) from Oslo. 

"My wife and I heard a loud rumbling noise and saw two powerful flashes of light," Morten Bilet, a meteorite collector and an NMN member, told Verdens Gang, a Norwegian newspaper. "It's definitely a large meteor that has come in over eastern Norway. This is a big deal." 

The meteor was traveling up to 43200 miles per hour (72000 km per hour) and lit up the sky for five to six seconds, according to the NMN. The meteor's pressure wave also caused a strong gust of wind, the group said. 

Bilet told Reuters news agency that the meteor was deflected to Earth when it hit our solar system's asteroid belt while traveling between Mars and Jupiter, but further details about the otherworldly arrival remain elusive. 

"With an object of this size, it's nearly impossible to get an overview of absolutely everything," Bilet said. "It would have been easier had it had a steeper course. We don't know yet whether it was a rock or an iron meteorite. From experience, it's more likely to be a rock, but we can't draw conclusions yet." Stone or rock meteorites tend to have formed on the surface or crust of a planet or large asteroid, whereas iron ones come from the planet or asteroid's core.

The NMN conducted a search for fragments from the meteor Sunday morning and into the afternoon. The group suspects that, given the tough-to-find location somewhere in the middle of a forest, any meteorite fragments could take up to 10 years to discover.

Meteors are small chunks of space rock that can be as small as grains of sand or as large as boulders roughly 3 feet (1 meter) wide and are scattered throughout the solar system. Much like bigger space rocks, called asteroids, they are leftovers from the formation of the planets.

The blazing rock that rumbled and flashed above Oslo was a special type of meteor called a "fireball" meteor, defined as any meteor emitting light of an intensity equal to or greater than that of Venus in the night sky, according to the American Meteor Society (AMS).

Fireballs burn brightly because of their size and speed — which creates a significant amount of friction when the rocks hit Earth's atmosphere. As the space rocks enter the atmosphere at speeds far exceeding the sound barrier, they also cause a sonic boom, which is likely the cause of the explosion heard by Oslo residents. Several thousand fireball meteors enter Earth's atmosphere every day, but most go unnoticed because they're not bright enough to see with the naked eye or they pass over uninhabited areas, according to the AMS.

One fireball meteor was witnessed passing over England, Wales and northern France in March 2021, Live Science previously reported. In the same month, a meteor the size of a bowling ball exploded over Vermont with the force of 440 pounds (200 kilograms) of TNT, Live Science previously reported.

The most explosive meteor event in recent history occurred near Chelyabinsk in central Russia in 2013. As the meteor struck the atmosphere, it created a blast roughly equivalent to 400-500 kilotons of TNT, or 26 to 33 times the energy released by the Hiroshima bomb. Fireballs rained down over Chelyabinsk and its environs, damaging buildings, smashing windows and injuring approximately 1,200 people.

Originally published by Live Science.

The Leonid meteor shower is one of nature's most amazing celestial sights. Each year in mid-November, the Earth passes through a trail of dusty debris from Comet Tempel-Tuttle, resulting in dazzling meteors for skywatchers on Earth. 

In 2020, the Leonid meteor shower will peak overnight on Nov. 16-17 and observers with dark skies, away from city lights, could see between 10 and 15 meteors per hour.  To prepare for the Leonids, take a look here at some of the most amazing Leonid meteors of all time. 

Leonid meteor shower 2020: When, where & how to see it

Editor's note: This feature was updated Nov. 11, 2020.

Stunning 1998 Leonid Fireball

Italian astrophotographer Lorenzo Lovato photographed this spectacular fireball from the 1998 Leonid meteor shower on Nov. 17, 1998.

Leonid Meteor Shower 2001: Chris Gruhusko

Photographer Chris Gruhusko captured this view of the Leonid meteor shower in November 2001 over the north face of Wind Mountain in the Cornudas Mountain of Southern New Mexico.

2011 Leonid Meteor Shower

This fireball was captured on Nov. 10, 2011 during the 2011 Leonid meteor shower. This false light image was taken using the All Sky Sentinel camera at the Sandia National Laboratories in Sonora, Mexico.

Leonid Meteor Storm of 1999

NASA's Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign captured this image during the 1999 Leonid meteor storm. The photo was taken with a 28 mm camera.

2002 Leonid Meteor Shower

This image was taken by skywatcher Tyson Hofsommer from Kansas City during the 2002 Leonid meteor shower.

2011 Leonid Meteor Shower Peak

This image, from skywatcher Salvador Aguirre, was taken using the All Sky Sentinel camera at the Sandia National Laboratories in Sonora, Mexico during the peak of the 2011 Leonid meteor shower.

A Storm of Meteors in 1999

This image was taken during the 1999 Leonid meteor storm as part of NASA's Leonid Multi-Instrument Aircraft Campaign (Leonid MAC). The image was captured with a 28 mm camera.

Leonid Meteor Shower 2005

This image was taken early in the morning on Nov. 19, 2005 by a skywatcher from the U.K.

Paul Miller

Skywatcher Paul Miller took this photo during the 2002 Leonid meteor shower over Santee, California.

2001 Leonid Meteor Shower from South Korea

French skywatcher Jeremie Vaubaillon captured this image during the 2001 Leonid meteor shower from South Korea.

Dazzling Leonid Meteors from November 2001

This image is a composition of 33 Leonids captured overnight from Nov. 18 to 19, 2001.

2002 Leonid Meteor Shower from SoCal

This photo was taken in Joshua Tree National Park in Southern California during the 2002 Leonid meteor shower.

Leonid Meteor Fireball - 2001

This bright Leonid fireball was taken during the 2001 meteor shower from Australia.

Leonid Meteor Shower 2001

This view from Australia of the 2001 Leonid meteor shower peak shows meteors streaking across the sky at a dazzling rate.

Spectacular 1999 Leonid Fireball

Norwegian astrophotographer Arne Danielsen captured this spectacular Leonid fireball on Nov. 18, 1999.

2002 Leonids from Canada

This photo from the 2002 Leonid meteor shower was taken in Bellefeuille, Quebec, Canada.

2010 Leonid Meteor Shower

Skywatcher Jim Gamble of El Paso, Texas created this composite image of the 2010 Leonid meteor shower display using an allsky camera.

The flaming space rock that slammed into Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs, struck at the worst possible angle (for the dinosaurs, that is), new research suggests.

Colliding with an enormous, fast-moving cosmic projectile would have been disastrous under just about any circumstances. But this giant space rock also hit the planet at a steep angle, causing the "deadliest possible" outcome by releasing much more gas and pulverized rock than it would have with a shallower approach, researchers recently discovered. 

Scientists modeled the path of the meteor as it hurtled toward Earth, creating the first 3D simulations to trace the event from start to finish: from the asteroid's approach, to the crash, to the formation of the giant crater in its entirety. The asteroid closed in on its target from the northeast and struck at an angle of about 60 degrees above the horizon, the study found, maximizing the quantity of gas spewed into the atmosphere — with catastrophic results for global climate.

Related: Crash! 10 biggest impact craters on Earth 

That crash was around 66 million years ago, ending the Mesozoic era with a bang. The event triggered global climate change and led to mass extinction, wiping out 75% of all life on Earth — including all non-avian dinosaurs. A scar from the impact remains to this day, as a massive circular basin underneath Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula known as the Chicxulub crater, measuring around 124 miles (200 kilometers) wide. 

In the researchers' simulations, they modeled an asteroid measuring about 11 miles (17 km) in diameter, traveling at approximately 27,000 mph (43,000 km/h) and with a density of 164 lbs. per cubic foot (2,630 kilograms per cubic meter). 

They also examined asymmetrical structures in the crater at subsurface depths of nearly 18 miles (30 km), to visualize the direction and angle of the asteroid as it struck. Though previous studies had modeled the crater's appearance at the moment of impact, this is the first time that researchers have used deeper structural data to model the crater during the impact's later stages, as it shifted and settled into its final shape. Working backward from this formation gave the scientists a more accurate view of the asteroid's approach, the scientists wrote in the study.

Take an object the size and mass of this ancient asteroid and send it hurtling toward Earth at tens of thousands of miles per hour at an angle 60 degrees above the horizon, and it would have blasted a crater that closely matches the structure of the Chicxulub crater, according to the simulations. 

Compared with most other impact angles, ejecta from such an impact would have produced "the worst-case scenario" for the planet, spewing up to three times as much sulfur and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as other impact angles did, the models showed.

This steep-angled trajectory "was among the worst-case scenarios for the lethality on impact," lead study author Gareth Collins, a professor of planetary science in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering at Imperial College London, said in a statement.

"It put more hazardous debris into the upper atmosphere and scattered it everywhere — the very thing that led to a nuclear winter," Collins said.

The findings were published online May 26 in the journal Nature Communications.

• When space attacks: The 6 craziest meteor impacts 
• Fallen stars: A gallery of famous meteorites 
• In photos: The impact craters of North America

Originally published on Live Science.

Scientists are scouring the remote Antarctic ice cap for rare meteorites chock-full of iron and holding secrets to the history of our solar system going back some 4.5 billion years. 

During a six-week British expedition, the team hopes to find up to five iron meteorites in the five square mile (15 square kilometers) survey area — enough for scientists to examine for key chemical and physical clues to conditions in the early solar system. 

Most of the 500 or so meteorites that reach the surface of Earth from space every year are rocks from shattered asteroids, according to NASA — usually ranging from the size of a pebble to the size of a fist.

Related: Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites

But roughly 5% of all meteorites that fall to Earth consist of an iron-nickel alloy, known as meteoric iron, and they are thought to come from the cores of planetesimals — small planet-like objects in the early solar system that often smashed together to make larger planets.

"This group of meteorites have an intrinsic scientific interest in that they tell us how small bodies formed and evolved in the early part of solar system history — around 4.5 billion years ago," said meteoriticist Katherine Joy from the University of Manchester, one of the leaders of the Lost Meteorites of Antarctica expedition.

On the ice

In theory, Antarctica is a great place to look for meteorites, Joy told Live Science in an email from Rothera Station, a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) base on the Antarctic Peninsula.

Related: Icy Images: Antarctica Will Amaze You in Incredible Aerial Views

"Meteorites are well preserved on the ice and have not been too altered by frequent rainfall, which can partially contaminate them elsewhere," she said. "Being dark in color, they are also easy to spot against the white ice surface."

Meteorites are also often concentrated by ice movements over several years into areas of exposed blue ice — known meteorite stranding zones for that reason. "So we can often collect many samples in quite a small area," she said.

But there is a problem: Iron meteorites have been found in Antarctica far less often than normal — less than 1%of the time.

The British scientists think they now know why:Iron-rich meteorites often heat up during their entry into the atmosphere more so than rocky meteorites, causing them to burrow farther below the ice surface.

"We have hypothesized that these iron meteorites are lying just underneath the surface of the ice out of sight," University of Manchester mathematician Geoff Evatt, one of the leaders of the expedition, told Live Science in an email from Halley Station on the Brunt Ice Shelf. "Hopefully, we can find some this season by using a metal-detector based approach."

Hunting meteorites

A team of five people, including Joy and Evatt, will start looking for iron meteorites near the Shackleton Range of mountains, southeast of the Weddell Sea and about 465 miles (750 km) south of Halley Station, the nearest base. 

Evatt said the team would take turns using two specially designed wide-array metal detectors, towed by snowmobiles.

Each metal-detecting array features five detectors about 40 inches (1 meter) wide — so the team can search a 32-foot-wide (10 m) swath of the ice as they travel, he said.

The area chosen for the survey is within air-support range of Halley Station, and there are very few surface rocks to slow any towing operations.

Mathematical modeling of the meteorite stranding zones, carried out by University of Manchester mathematician Andrew Smedley, also suggests that the survey area could have a lot of iron meteorites just below the ice surface, he said.

Now, they are ready for a big haul, they said.

• Photos: Diving Beneath Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf
• Gallery: Images of Meteorites from Around the World
• Meteor Crater: Experience an Ancient Impact

Originally published on Live Science. 

Goodness gracious! Great balls of fire rained from the sky in Chile last week, and officials are still trying to figure out what they were and where they came from.

One thing is certain: The mysterious burning objects were not meteors, according to news reports.

The fiery UFOs descended on Dalcahue City on the Chilean island of Chiloé on Sept. 25, CNET reported. . The tumbling objects crash-landed in seven locations, setting off fires that were promptly put out by volunteer firefighters. .   

Related: 7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs

Chiloé island resident Bernardita Ojeda had one fireball land on her property, where the flames ignited a few bushes, Ojeda told local news station Channel 2. 

Geologists from Chile's National Geology and Mining Service soon arrived to examine the seven sites that had been scorched by the falling space stuff. While they conducted their analyses, the story spread through local news, social media and national outlets. 

Chilean astronomer and astrophysicist José Maza told Chilean news network TVN that the blazing bodies were likely either meteorites or space debris that had detached from rockets or satellites, according to CNET. On Sept. 26, astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics chimed in on Twitter, saying that the falling objects were probably meteorites and that there were "no obvious space debris candidates that [he could] see." 

"But [it] sometimes takes a few days for relevant data to come in," McDowell added. 

On Sept. 28, the geologists released their official assessment: None of the seven sites contained traces of meteorite. Since the mysterious objects weren't meteors, logic dictates that they must have been wayward space junk, but officials said they'll be conducting more detailed analyses of soil samples collected from the singed sites to make sure, according to CNET. The geologists will release their results later this month. Only time will tell what exactly fell from the heavens on that unusual September evening.

• Crash! 10 Biggest Impact Craters on Earth
• In Photos: The Impact Craters of North America
• Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites

Originally published on Live Science.

A small meteorite may have crashed into a rice field in eastern India on Monday (July 22).

The strange rock, which weighed nearly 29 pounds (14 kilograms) and was the size of a football, created an imprint in the muddy waters of the rice paddy in Mahadeva village in Bihar, according to CNN.

It's currently being held at the Bihar Museum but will soon be moved to the Srikrishna Science Center in Bihar, so that experts can figure out whether it's an actual meteorite or just a plain old rock, according to a statement from the Chief Minister of Bihar's office.

Meteorites are space rocks that survive the journey through our fiery atmosphere and fall to Earth, according to NASA. They typically have magnetic properties because they are composed of, in part, iron-nickel metal. This potential meteorite was also found to have magnetic properties, according to the statement. [Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites]

Our planet is bombarded every day with over 100 tons (90 metric tons) of dust and sand-size meteorites, but larger objects are rarer. About once a year, an asteroid the size of a car hits the atmosphere and creates a fireball (such as the one that raced through Canadian skies on Wednesday (July 24)), burning up before it hits the ground, according to NASA.

Every 2,000 years or so, a football-field-size meteorite hits the planet and causes major local damage. Every couple of million years or so, a truly massive object comes along with the potential to destroy all human civilization.

• Space Rocks! Photos of Meteorites for Sale
• Photo Gallery: Images of Martian Meteorites
• In Photos: The Impact Craters of North America

Originally published on Live Science.

Meteorites crash into Earth pretty much constantly, and you can find their ancient remains everywhere from King Tut's tomb to some guy's farmin Edmore, Michigan. But to best understand where these space rocks came from and how long they've been living as earthly expats, it helps to visit the densest collection of meteorites on the planet — and that's in Chile's Atacama Desert.

What's so special about Atacama? For starters, it's old — more than 15 million years old — and that means the meteors that have crash-landed on its 50,000-square-mile (130,000 square kilometer) surface have the possibility of being really old, too. This poses a geological advantage over other deserts, including Antarctica, which boast vast supplies of meteorites, but are generally too young to house any space rocks older than about half a million years, according to Alexis Drouard, a researcher at Aix-Marseille Université in France and lead author of a new study in the journal Geology. [In Images: Stunning Flower Fields of the Atacama Desert]

Drouard and his colleagues recently went on a meteorite-hunting trip to the Atacama Desert in hopes of finding an array of rocks that spanned millions of years. "Our purpose in this work was to see how the meteorite flux to Earth changed over large timescales," Drouard said in a statement. In other words, could the space rocks of Atacama reveal when Earth was bombarded by meteorites more or less frequently?

For the new study (published May 22), the researchers collected nearly 400 meteorites and closely studied 54 of them, analyzing both the ages and chemical compositions of the alien stones. Consistent with the desert's advanced age, about 30% of the meteorites were more than 1 million years old, while two of them had been gathering dust for more than 2 million years. According to Drouard, this represents the oldest meteorite collection on Earth's surface.

And as for the meteorite flux? The team extrapolated the results of their small sample to determine that impact activity has remained relatively constant over the past 2 million years, amounting to about 222 meteor impacts in every square kilometer of desert every 1 million years.

Surprisingly, the composition of the meteorites changed more drastically. According to the researchers, the meteorites that bombarded Atacama between 1 million and half a million years ago were significantly more iron-rich than the rocks that fell before or after. It's possible they all came from a single swarm of stones that got knocked loose from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, the team wrote.

• Photos: The Haunting Splendor of Chile's Atacama Desert
• Space Rocks: Photos of Meteorites for Sale
• Crash! The 10 Biggest Impact Craters on Earth

Originally published on Live Science.

A tiny speck of stardust, hidden within a meteorite from Antarctica, is likely older than our sun — and was catapulted into our celestial neighborhood by an ancient star explosion that predates the formation of our solar system.

This ancient grain is only 1/25,000 of an inch, sports a "croissant-like shape," and could tell us a thing or two about the origins of our solar system, researchers said April 29 in the journal Nature Astronomy.

Using multiple types of microscopes, these researchers peered into the stardust and found that it was made up of a combination of graphite (a form of carbon) and silicate (a salt made up of silicon and oxygen). When the scientists compared this composition with models, they determined that it likely came from a specific type of star explosion called a nova. [Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites]

Nova explosions happen in the exchange of energy between an ordinary star and a white dwarf, a star that has burned off most of its nuclear fuel. The white dwarf feeds off the other star, accreting enough new material to reignite itself in powerful outbursts that spew material into space. This is how the sample of stardust, named LAP-149, formed and then made its way through interstellar space to the vicinity of our solar system.

"These stardust grains are like fossilized relics of ancient stars," co-author Tom Zega, an associate professor in the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona told Live Science. What's more, the researchers know that this piece of stardust must have traveled from far away, because it has high levels of a very specific form, or isotope, of carbon (carbon-13). Such high levels are not seen in any object sampled from our solar system, Zega said.

Star explosions throw ingredients into interstellar space, where they eventually serve as the seeds for planets. So, rare finds like this ancient grain could yield insights into how our solar system formed, according to a statement.

The results provide further evidence that both carbon- and oxygen-rich grains that come from nova explosions helped build the solar system. Though the grain was way too small for the researchers to date it, they guessed, based on its composition and the meteorite that it came from, that its at least 4.5 billion years old — around the time our solar system formed. 

"These are the ashes of different kinds of stars that have faded or are on their way to fading out of the the universe," Zega said. "Moreover, because we find them preserved inside of meteorites and because we can age date meteorites using radioisotopes, we know they must be older than the meteorite itself." Meteorites like LAP-149 are "very primitive," and are among the "leftovers from after the sun and planets formed," he added.

Zega and the team hope to find and analyze bigger specimens of stardust in the future, which they hope they will be able to date.

In any case, the very existence of this speck of primordial history is amazing, the researchers said. "It's remarkable when you think about all the [events] along the way that should have killed this grain," Zega said in the statement.

• Meteor Crater: Experience an Ancient Impact
• Space Rocks! Photos of Meteorites for Sale
• Space-y Tales: The 5 Strangest Meteorites

Originally published on Live Science.

One of the oldest known annual meteor showers, peaking early this week, may unfortunately be hindered by an almost-full moon.

The moon reaches full phase during the overnight hours of April 18-19, so many will likely dismiss this year's performance of the Lyrid meteor shower as unobservable. The peak of activity is expected during the night of April 22-23; when the moon rises at about 11:30 p.m., the shower radiant will be less than halfway up in the northeastern sky. (The American Meteor Society lists the peak as April 21-22, but both nights should have similar rates.) That radiant is located to the lower right of the brilliant blue-white star Vega in the little constellation of Lyra, hence the name "Lyrids." (A meteor shower's radiant is the spot from which the shower's meteors appear to be streaking; they can appear all across the sky, but their tails will point to that spot.)

The orbit of the Lyrid meteors strongly resembles that of Thatcher's Comet, which swung past us during the spring of 1861 and has an orbital period of approximately 415 years. In 1867, astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle confirmed the link between this comet and the Lyrids; the meteors that we see from this display are the tiny particles that were shed by the comet on its previous visits through the inner solar system. 

Related: The Most Amazing Lyrid Meteor Shower Photos of All Time

Lyrid surprises

The April Lyrids have sometimes provided spectacular displays, as in 687 B.C., when Chinese records said "stars fell like rain," and it's happened at least a dozen other times since then. The story is often told of how residents of Richmond, Virginia, were rousted out of bed by the fire bell on the morning of April 20, 1803. The fire that had broken out in the armory was quickly extinguished, but this gave the townspeople a chance to see meteors falling in great numbers from all parts of the sky. 

The event is also described in a letter published in the Raleigh, North Carolina, Register:

"We, the undersigned . . . being on Wednesday night, the 20th of April, out at a fishing party, and returning home about 1 o'clock a.m., were alarmed with the appearance of a shooting of stars; the whole hemisphere as far as the extension of the horizon seemed to be illuminated; the meteors kept no particular direction but appeared to move every way. We viewed the phenomenon for the space perhaps of half an hour with amazement, during which time no intermission appeared. We distinctly heard a hissing in the air but heard no reports. The above statements may be relied on as facts" (signed by four men).

Similar accounts came from New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Delaware. 

The meteor outburst of 1803 was completely unexpected. Very little was known about meteors in the 18th and early 19th centuries, except for the slight increase in their numbers each year during early August. The Lyrids give no clues as to when another such outburst might happen; hence, the shower is always one to watch. 

Moon muscles in

Unfortunately, as we alluded to at the outset, this year, the moon is going to be a problem for prospective meteor watchers. The best chance to see some Lyrids this year will be on the morning of April 23, just before morning twilight begins. Any meteor whose path, extended backward, passes within a few degrees of Vega is likely to be a Lyrid. Around 4 a.m. local daylight time is also about the time that the Lyrid radiant will be almost directly overhead from the southern United States, and not far off it for anyone in the midnorthern hemisphere. (But remember — the meteors can appear anywhere across the sky.)

In recent years, even when the sky has been dark, the Lyrids have generally been weak. They produce a brief maximum that lasts for about a day, and even then, only 10 to 20 Lyrids per hour may appear. Yet, the April Lyrids have been described as "occasionally spectacularly bright and swift." About 20-25% of Lyrid meteors also tend to leave shining trails in their wakes that persist for a few moments.

Unforeseen spectacles

And there is always the small chance of a surprise.

A brief outburst of 100 per hour occurred in 1922. Then, in 1982, rates unexpectedly reached 90 for a single hour and 180 to 300 per hour for a few minutes — easy for skywatchers to miss due to timing. "It is indeed possible that many past Lyrid outbursts were missed simply due to observational gaps," Paul Roggermans wrote in "Handbook for Visual Meteor Observations" (Sky Publishing Corp., 1989). 

So, maybe it wouldn't hurt to set the alarm clock for 2 or 3 a.m. (in your local time zone) on the morning of April 23, so you can arise for a brief look out the window, moonlight notwithstanding. 

Hey ... you never know.

• Lyrid Meteor Shower: Tips to See April's 'Shooting Stars'
• How to See the Best Meteor Showers of 2019
• How Meteor Showers Work (Infographic)

Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Verizon FiOS1 News in New York's lower Hudson Valley. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. 

A bright green fireball east of Tallahassee, Florida sparked nearly 250 witness reports for the American Meteor Society across several states.

The large flash occurred on Saturday (March 30) at 11:52 p.m. local time, according to the society's event sighting page. It was visible in Florida, Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina, and possibly sighted as far north as Virginia.  

Some witnesses reported the fireball being visible for 20 seconds, although the majority saw it as a briefer flash of just 3.5 seconds, according to the sightings page. "The glow from the burning meteor was so bright that it created shadows for several seconds before the light flickered out," read a report from Accuweather.com. 

Earth is pelted with millions of tons of dust and rocks from space every year. Under some circumstances, as the debris enters the atmosphere, it creates a "shooting star" or meteor. The very brightest ones look like fireballs in the sky.  

In most cases, the space debris burns up harmlessly high up in the atmosphere; occasionally, though, a fireball will produce some fragments that reach the ground. There was no indication on the AMS website if any meteorites (fragments of space rock) were found in association with the fireball. 

Larger space rocks, asteroids and comets do occasionally hit Earth's atmosphere — one prominent example is the six-story-building-size object that slammed into Earth over Russia in 2014, causing injuries. NASA and other international agencies are on the hunt for the very largest of these cosmic intruders, and have found no imminent threats to our planet so far.

If you saw the Florida fireball, you can add your report to the AMS webpage. 

•  Powerful Bering Sea Fireball Spotted from Space in NASA Photos 
•  Fireball That Exploded Over Greenland Shook Earth, Triggering Seismic Sensors 
•  A Dazzling Fireball Over California Thrilled Skywatchers This Week 

Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.  

Hundreds or millions of years after a meteorite smashes into Earth, researchers are left analyzing the impact site to figure out what happened. New research simulated such impacts in the lab, smashing samples together between diamond anvils and tracking how impact-site materials change when compressed at different rates.

By learning about ancient meteorite impacts, researchers can better understand how Earth and other solar system bodies formed and evolved. And by analyzing specific impact sites, researchers hope to learn details such as the highest temperatures and pressures reached in the smashup.

Researchers in the past have classified impacts based on changes to three types of minerals often found in impact craters (and in planetary crust in general), the scientists said in a statement about the new work. These minerals, which are in the feldspar group, consist of albite, anorthite and plagioclase (the latter is a mixture of the first two). When these minerals undergo an impact, they lose some of their ordered crystal structure, and the new work used X-ray diffraction — measuring powerful X-rays passing through the substances — to track how their atomic structures change as they're rapidly compressed, like they are in a meteorite impact. [Related: Superdense Alien Ice Formed in a (Laser) Flash]

"In our experiment we used gas- or actuator-controlled diamond anvil cells to rapidly compress our samples, while we continuously collect X-ray diffraction patterns," Melissa Sims, a geoscientist at Stony Brook University in New York and lead author on the new work, said in the statement. "This allows us to monitor the changes in the atomic structure during the complete compression and decompression cycle, and not only at the start and end of the experiment as in previous so-called recovery experiments."

The researchers compressed the minerals to 80 gigapascals of pressure, which is roughly equivalent to 80,000 times Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level, and varied the compression rate to see differences in how the minerals reacted. They noticed that the rate of compression had a big impact on when the minerals lost their crystal structure — when compressed more quickly, the structure was completely lost at a lower pressure than when compressed slowly.

This means measuring the level of structure lost in these minerals when found at impact sites might not be enough to estimate the peak pressure and temperature at the time the object hit, the researchers said. But as they investigate more about how minerals change under impact conditions, researchers should be able to pull more information from long-ago impact sites.

So, though it doesn't help pinpoint specific temperatures and pressures in this case, the use of this technology — and the increasing availability of powerful X-ray sources and X-ray detector technology — is promising for learning more about how impacts work, the researchers said.

The new work was detailed Feb. 1 in the journal Earth and Planetary Science Letters.

Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.

Valentine's Day is hurtling toward us again like so much extraterrestrial debris — and, to celebrate, the venerable Christie's auction house is selling off a heart-shaped meteorite than rained hell on Siberia several decades ago.

The heart-shaped hunk of space iron (dubbed "The Heart of Space" by Christie’s) is one of 45 meteorites going up for online auction from Feb. 6 to 14. While some lots are expected to sell for as little as $500, the Heart of Space could fetch upward of $500,000, according to a news release from Christie's. [Fallen Stars: A Gallery of Famous Meteorites]

Part of the rock's astronomical starting bid comes from its backstory. According to the Christie's website, the meteorite was one of hundreds of shards that splintered off a 200,000-pound chunk of pure iron (90,000 kilograms) and rained down over the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Siberia in February, 1947. When these fragments finally crashed into the mountains, the resulting shockwaves shattered windows, collapsed chimneys, toppled trees and roared with sonic booms that were audible hundreds of miles away. It was very romantic.

While many of the meteorite fragments found after the incident are jagged, shrapnel-like lumps, the Heart of Space likely broke off its parent meteor higher up in the atmosphere and was subsequently carved into a more aerodynamic shape as it rocketed toward the ground at tens of thousands of miles an hour, according to Christie's.

If this little piece of flaming space chaos is too rich for your blood, other lots in the auction include rare meteorites flecked with extraterrestrial gemstones (known as pallasites), meteorites that got catapulted off of the moon and landed on Earth, and a slice of the 15-ton (13.6 metric tonne) Willamette meteorite — a fixture of the American Museum of Natural History and "the most famous meteorite in the world," according to Christie's. Whether you can bring one of these celebrity stones home or not, we hope your Valentine's Day rocks.

Originally published on Live Science.

Meteor Trail Over Lake Tahoe

A brilliant fireball lit up the skies over California on Dec. 19, 2018, and left a spectacular, wind-twisted trail behind it. See photos here and read an eyewitness report by Space.com's Mike Wall!

In this photo, he dazzling meteor is seen in a photo by David Smoyer from the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

Reflection in Still Waters

The meteor trail's reflection in Lake Tahoe shines in this stunning shot, also by David Smoyer.

Lit from Below

Though the sun had already set, the meteor trail was high enough up in the sky to still catch some rays.

An Unforgettable Sight

"I've been lucky enough to see a lot of meteors, and lots of bright fireballs, including dozens during the 2001 Leonid meteor storm outburst, but this was the brightest and most impressive I can recall," Smoyer told Space.com via email.

Fireball Over San Francisco

Ghia Jacobs captured this image of the fireball from San Francisco shortly after it blazed up, before it had developed its long and twisting tail.

Wind-Whipped Tail

High-altitude winds twisted the meteor's once-straight trail into a corkscrew shape, as this photo by Kevin Haas shows.

Meteor Trail San Francisco

The meteor's wind-twisted trail, seen from western San Francisco.

The View from Reno

Laura Lea Evans snapped this shot of the meteor from Reno, Nevada, on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Smoke Trail in the Sky

Adam Larson took this photo of the Bay Area fireball.

Fireball Seen from San Rafael

Mark O’Lone captured this view of the fireball's trail from San Rafael, just north of San Francisco.

Fireball Seen from Vandenberg AFB

Ryan Watamura saw the fireball from the vicinity of Vandenberg Air Force Base while waiting for the launch of the NROL-71 spy satellite. (The launch was scrubbed.)

Beautiful Debris

In mid-December 2018, the 2018 Geminid meteor shower peaked in what was the best meteor shower of the year. See amazing photos of the 2018 Geminids in our photo gallery here. In This image, the Geminid meteor shower lit up the sky over Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, on Dec. 14, 2018.

Fire and Light

Above a railway viaduct in Saltburn By The Sea, United Kingdom, a single meteor from the Geminid meteor shower leaves a trail across the evening sky.

From a Rocky Passerby

The Geminid meteor shower, originating from the 3200 Phaethon asteroid, arrives each December.

Gracing the Desert

In the Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, a long, bright meteor visits the Seven Sisters rock formation.

A Logical Name

Another meteor makes its way through the night sky. The annual meteor shower gets its name from the constellation Gemini, from where the showers radiate.

Gorgeous Litter

The light show is the result of debris from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, some of which can be as small as a grain of sand.

geminids

The 2018 Geminid meteor shower, as seen from Sunnyvale, California.

A Geminid Google Doodle!

Google celebrated the 2018 Geminid meteor shower peak with an adorable Google Doodle slideshow. Read the full story.

The Source of the Geminids

The Geminid meteor shower is made up of dusty bits from the near-Earth asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which scientists have been studying for decades. Here, the asteroid is seen in a radar view from the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico.

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon orbit

The orbit of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which passes around the sun once every 1.4 years. Though it is an asteroid, its elongated path is reminiscent of comets. The Geminid meteor shower comes every year when Earth passes through the debris left along the asteroid's path.

A Weird Meteor Source

Asteroid 3200 Phaethon, the parent of the Geminids, is weird. Scientists have gone back on forth on whether Phaethon is an asteroid or comet. But one thing is certain: 3200 Phaethon is BLUE.

Thursday–Friday, Dec. 13–14, midnight to dawn — Geminids Meteor Shower Peak

The Geminids meteor shower, one of the most spectacular of the year, runs from December 4 to 16 annually. In 2018, it will peak before dawn on Friday, December 14, when up to 120 meteors per hour are possible to see under dark sky conditions. Geminids meteors are often bright, intensely colored, and slower moving than average because they are produced by particles dropped by an asteroid designated 3200 Phaethon. The best time to watch for Geminids will be sunset on Wednesday until dawn on Thursday morning. At about 2 a.m. local time, the sky overhead will be plowing into the densest part of the debris field. The early-setting crescent moon on the peak night will provide a dark sky for meteor-watchers.

Geminid meteor shower radiant

Geminid meteors appear to diverge from a single spot in the sky, called the radiant, located in the constellation Gemini. But you'll see as many as possible if you lean back and take in the whole sky — they can appear anywhere across the sky, traveling away from that point.

How Meteor Showers Work (Infographic)

Learn why famous meteor showers like the Perseids and Leonids occur every year [See the Full Infographic Here].

A Meteor Over Hawaii

A meteor streaks across the sky above Kahului, Hawaii in this photo by Marcus Rodrigues. He captured this view from atop Haleakalā, or the East Maui Volcano.

A Cosmic Selfie

Astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill snapped this cosmic selfie with a fireball meteor at Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Mathis, Texas during the Geminid meteor shower on Dec. 15, 2018.

Geminids Over Texas

Geminid meteors and the Orion constellation light up the sky over Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Mathis, Texas in this stacked image captured by astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill on Dec. 14, 2018. "I set my camera to shoot towards this tree that was being backlit by the light pollution on the other side of the lake and blended seven meteors that I captured during an hour," Rill told Space.com.

Dashing Through the Stars

Two Geminid meteors pass by the Pleiades star cluster and appear to head toward Comet 46P/Wirtanen in this image by astrophotographer Jeff Berkes.

A Green Meteor

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this photo of a Geminid meteor over Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland on Dec. 14, 2018, at 5 a.m. local time.

Fireball Over Maryland

A Geminid fireball blazes through the sky above a campfire at Assateague Island National Seashore in Maryland during the Geminid meteor shower. Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes snapped this photo on Dec. 14, 2018, at 2:30 a.m. local time.

A Shower of Meteors

Geminid meteors rain down on Lake Corpus Christi State Park in Mathis, Texas, in this stacked image captured by astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill on Dec. 14, 2018.

A Meteor and a Comet

A Geminid meteor and Comet 46P/Wirtanen star in this view of the night sky. Photographer José Zarcos Palma captured this photo from the São Domingos Mine in Alentejo, Portugal, on Dec. 13, 2018.

Comet 46P Photobombs the Geminids

The bright-green, naked-eye comet 46P/Wirtanen looms above the horizon while meteors appear to rain down on the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero, California, during the Geminid meteor shower of 2018.

Four months ago, people in a small Madagascar town caught sight of a fireball shooting across the early-evening sky. Its boom was so loud, the ground shook.

A search for pieces of this celestial visitor soon followed. Researchers stitched together eyewitness accounts to help them understand what came down from the heavens on July 27. 

What people saw crashing down, according to this detective work, was an ancient, 4.5 billion-year-old meteor from the early solar system. [Traces of 'Sonic Boom' Meteorites Found in the Ocean]

This space rock is now called Benenitra, named after the small town in southwestern Madagascar where it landed. Fortunately, Benenitra rock fragments appear to have missed any people or buildings, according to a Nov. 26 statement about the findings.

"The Benenitra meteorite is a new space rock, but it is also a witnessed fall, which makes it part of [a] special group of meteorites," Roger Gibson, a researcher at Wits University in South Africa, said in the statement. "It is part of our collective heritage as a species, planet and Solar System. It fell in a remote area that will henceforth be recognised internationally for the event on the evening of 27 July."

Researchers from the University of Antananarivo in Madagascar and international colleagues began investigating when they first heard about the fall. After news reached Wits graduate student Tim Marais, he collected preliminary eyewitness accounts to confirm the meteor crash. Marais happened to be traveling in the area days after it occurred. 

Marais also retrieved rock fragments thought to have separated from the meteorite. 

A thin section of one fragment went through microscopic analysis, enabling Gibson and Lewis Ashwal at Wits University to confirm its space origin. Other supporting evidence for the meteorite's provenance came from work done by Matthias Laubenstein at the National Institute for Nuclear Physics in Italy, who found evidence of recent cosmic ray exposure — meaning the fragment was outside Earth's protective atmosphere as recently as a few months ago.

The Benenitra meteorite comes from the early solar system, according to Wits University officials. Known as a chondrite, this common meteorite contains millimeter-size grains of silicate material preserved from the cloud of dust and gas that surrounded the sun billions of years ago, when the solar system formed.

So the fragments belonged to an ancient meteor. But how does one corroborate testimonies describing the crashing sound? 

To find supporting evidence of a significant explosion in the atmosphere above Madagascar on July 27, Andry Ramanantsoa of the Laboratory of Seismology and Infrasound at the University of Antananarivo used infrasound data from seismometers to confirm an "upper atmosphere energy release event" over the town of Benenitra at 7:16 p.m. local time (1716 GMT). The explosion, according to officials, was large enough to cause vibrations in the ground.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter@salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

Organic molecules — compounds that on Earth can be linked with life — encased within meteorites from Mars may have formed on the Red Planet from chemical reactions much like those found in batteries on Earth, a new study finds.

Scientists cautioned that these findings do not mean there is life on Mars. Instead, they may show a new way for the "building blocks of life" as we know it to have formed on the Red Planet.

Organic molecules are the carbon-based chemicals that such building blocks of life as proteins and DNA are made from. Previous work detected organic compounds in Martian meteorites, but researchers had long debated what the origins of these molecules are. [Photo Gallery: Images of Martian Meteorites]

In 2012, scientists discovered evidence that organic molecules in a number of Martian meteorites came from Mars and were not contaminants from Earth. However, they also found that these organic compounds did not have a biological origin — the researchers theorized that they formed from volcanic processes. 

To shed further light on the origins of these organic molecules, researchers investigated three Martian meteorites. These were Nakhla, which fell in Egypt in 1911; Tissint, which fell into the Moroccan desert in 2011; and NWA 1950, which was found in the Atlas Mountains in Morocco in 2001. 

Microscopic analysis revealed that organic molecules in these rocks were often intertwined with minerals such as titanomagnetite, magnetite, pyrite and pyrrhotite, according to the researchers. The kinds of organic compounds found in these meteorites were highly similar to ones detected on the Red Planet by the Mars Science Laboratory's Curiosity rover missions.

The scientists noted that titanomagnetite is a catalyst, able to trigger chemical reactions. Given the specific molecules the researchers found near each other within the meteorite, they suggested that on Mars, titanomagnetite catalyzed reactions between volcanic minerals,salty liquids and carbon dioxide dissolved in the briny fluids, creating organic matter. These reactions are similar to ones that regularly happen in batteries.

Prior work that sought to generate useful chemicals from the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere showed that such reactions were possible. However, this activity "was never thought to exist in nature, though," study lead author Andrew Steele, an astrobiologist at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., told Space.com.

All in all, "this does not say there is life on Mars, but shows a novel way of making the building blocks of life," Steele said. These findings may shed light on "the reactions that led to life on the early Earth," he added.

The scientists are now exploring what organic chemicals these reactions might produce on Mars. "Preliminary experiments have already produced methane in the lab," Steele said.

Future exploration of Mars and analyses of samples from the Red Planet may help determine whether these reactions actually occur there, the researchers added. If confirmed, this work may help uncover what background of organic material might exist on Mars so "we can differentiate possible Martian life from just organic chemistry," Steele said.

The scientists detailed their findings online Oct. 31 in the journal Science Advances.

Follow Charles Q. Choi on Twitter @cqchoi. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook. Original article on Space.com.

Fireball Over Australia!

On Aug. 28, 2018, a meteor lit up the night sky over Perth in western Australia in a brilliant fireball. See photos of the fireball from eyewitnesses across Perth, courtesy of the iconic Perth Observatory. This image was captured by skywatcher Allen Coxe. See videos of the fireball here! This view of the fireball comes from Curtin University's Northam Observatory. See more photos of the fireball here.

Fiery Ball of Light

Astronomers weren't the only ones to spot the fireball over Western Australia. Many witnesses saw the meteor while driving, with their dash cameras recording the sight. This image was captured by skywatcher Allen Coxe.

Big and Bright

The meteor over Australia was around 1.5 feet (0.5 meters) at the time of entry. This view was captured by Bagus Sugiono.

How It Works

The glow see from Earth was caused by friction between the object and Earth's atmosphere. That friction melted the outer layers of the meteor, producing the bright glow. This view was captured by Bagus Sugiono.

Speeding Through Space

Upon entering the atmosphere, the meteor was traveling a little over 9.e miles per second (15 kms per second). This view was captured by BeJay Walker.

Widely Observed

At the time of the event, the Perth Observatory was notified by dozens of distressed people who witnessed the event. This view was captured by BeJay Walker, one of many who sent videos of the fireball in to the observatory.

Investigation Begins

This dash camera view was provided by FuShan Lee. The Perth fireball prompted Curtin University's Fireballs In The Sky team to search near the town of York, east of Perth, for evidence of the meteor hitting the ground.

Caught in the Act

This dash camera view of the fireball was captured by Lance and Matt Boston. The Perth Observatory has a camera network around Perth and Northam. The system captured images of the meteor.

Using Tech to Connect

This Perth fireball view comes from Ravia Karia. The Fireballs In The Sky team also released a mobile app and almost two dozen people reported the Perth meteor through that app.

The building blocks of life might have had a cosmic origin before hitching a ride to the early Earth on meteorites, according to a new study that connects the left-handed nature of those building blocks on Earth with star-forming regions.

Scientists continue to investigate where the building blocks of life came from and how common they might be throughout the Universe. For every building block we identify, from carbon and phosphorus to proteins and nucleic acids, we also have to ask, when did it get here? How? And from where? 

A recent study published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters may have some of the answers. Sandra Pizzarello of the School of Molecular Sciences at Arizona State University, and Christopher Yarnes of the University of California-Davis' Department of Planetary Sciences, studied extracts from the Murchison meteorite, which landed in Australia in 1969 and remains one of the most studied meteorites given its 200-pound (90 kilogram) heft and carbon-rich composition. Inside the extracts they found evidence for a chiral molecule also found in distant star-forming regions.

Chirality refers to the arrangement of atoms in a molecule. Think of the mirror image of a symmetrical object, such as a chair or a stapler. Its mirror image can be perfectly superimposed onto the original. However, the mirror image of a chiral object, such as your hand, cannot be superimposed onto the original. 

Homochirality, or one-handedness, plays a key role in cellular chemical reactions, and all living organisms (that we know of) contain the 'left-handed' molecules. Scientists aren't sure why this is, but some believe the answer may have something to do with the molecules' cosmic origin. In 2016, researchers found propylene oxide, a chiral molecule, in Sagittarius B2, which is a massive molecular gas cloud roughly 25,000 light years from Earth, near the center of our Milky Way Galaxy. The findings suggest that the chiral molecules necessary for life may have come from space, particularly from star-forming regions. 

A molecule from space

Pizzarello and Yarnes extracted powder from the Murchison meteorite with ethanol and then tested it for propylene oxide, the chiral molecule previously found in Sagittarius B2. They found two propylene oxide derivatives in the extracts, and hydrolysis (breaking down the chemicals with water) caused those derivatives to produce propylene glycol, further confirming the presence of propylene oxide. One surprising result was the formation of polymeric compounds in a sample that had been refrigerated for four weeks before undergoing hydrolysis — another indication of propylene glycol. Such compounds could, the researchers suggest, "form from meteoritic propylene oxide both in the parent asteroids… and on the early Earth." This suggests that the molecule has an ability to withstand the harsh environment of space and long cosmic journeys. 

One of the researchers' conclusions is that meteorites contain a "yet unknown compositional complexity." Scientists don't know what other molecular secrets meteorites hold, or how those could change our understanding of life's origin. What we do know is that meteorites seem to have the ingredients for abiotic synthesis, or the creation of compounds from non-living molecules. 

"Meteorites contain everything we searched for in a complete variety of molecular species," Pizzarello tells Astrobiology Magazine. In other words, chemical processes, rather than biological ones, may have generated the first living cells, all of which are homochiral. 

The cause of life's chiral bias is unclear. Astrobiology professor at the University of Edinburgh's School of Physics and Astronomy, Charles Cockell, believes "it makes sense that life would use one chiral form to simplify biochemical recognition," but the source of that disposition involves the as yet unanswered question of whether chemical processes predated biological ones, or as Cockell puts it, whether chirality originated from a "prebiotic excess of one form that predisposes life to amplify the chirality it now shows."

The deep roots of life's beginnings

Although meteorites carry the molecules necessary for life, Pizzarello points out that we still don't know whether they're responsible for life on Earth or whether they're the only cosmic vehicle that brought chiral molecules here. Definitive answers will be difficult to obtain, but Cockell believes scientists can chip away at the puzzle by studying how molecules crucial to life form in space and what processes select for chirality. "What other prebiotic secrets are locked up in unknown compounds [in space]?" he wonders. 

Regardless of the answer, the study suggests "very deep roots for the chemical evolution that preceded life." The idea that chirality, a predisposition inherent in all life as we know it, either began with or arose from the birth of the Milky Way Galaxy some 13.6 billion years ago delivers a dose of cosmic perspective. As Carl Sagan said, "we're made of star stuff." 

The findings also hint at the even bigger question of determinism, which is whether physical or chemical laws determine the chirality of life, or whether it's down to chance. 

"In many ways, at least for the origin of life, meteorites offer the key to separating those two things," says Cockell. 

The work was supported by NASA Astrobiology through the Exobiology & Evolutionary Biology 'Earths in Other Solar Systems' program. 

This story was provided by Astrobiology Magazine, a web-based publication sponsored by the NASA astrobiology program. This version of the story published on Space.com. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+.

Perseid Meteors Put On a Show!

The Perseid meteor shower of 2018 put on a spectacular show for skywatchers around the world. The annual meteor shower peaked Aug. 11-13, just after the new moon, which made for excellent meteor-spotting conditions. Click through this gallery to see some of the best Perseid photos submitted by Space.com readers!

Perseid Fireball in Macedonia

At Galičica National Park near Ohrid, Macedonia, astrophotographer Stojan Stojanovski captured a Perseid fireball as it lit up the starry sky above a serene mountain landscape. "Near the big puddle where animals drink water, we started shooting around 11 p.m. local time," Stojanovski told Space.com. "It was a good night with very good number of meteors per hour."

Meteor Meets Mars in Las Vegas

A Perseid meteor, Mars and the Milky Way light up the night sky in this photo taken near Las Vegas by Tyler Leavitt. "The orange glow to the right of the frame is the Vegas light pollution mixed with haze and smoke from the California wildfires," Leavitt told Space.com in an email.

Meteor, Mars and the Milky Way from Macedonia

In this photo from Galičica National Park in Macedonia, Stojanovski captured a fireball meteor near Mars and the Milky Way.

Fireball Over Colorado

A fireball zips across the Milky Way in this photo taken by Sergio Garcia Rill at Sprague Lake in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park.

Las Vegas, Nevada

Mars glows near a bright-green Perseid meteor over Las Vegas, Nevada in this photo by Tyler Leavitt.

Perseids Over Greece

Fotis Mavroudakis captured this photo of Perseid meteors over Falakro Oros, a mountain in northern Greece. The image combines 40 fireballs captured over a period of about 5 hours.

Meteor at Mount Galičica

In another view from Galičica mountain near Ohrid, Macedonia, astrophotographer Simjanoski Bojan captured a Perseid prancing through the Milky Way.

Fireball Over Colorado

A Perseid fireball streaks across the star-speckled sky over Sprague Lake in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park in this image by astrophotographer Sergio Garcia Rill.

Italian Perseids from the Virtual Telescope Project

Several Perseid meteors dash across the sky above Italy's Castel Santa Maria in this photo by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project taken during the peak on Aug. 12-13, 2018.

Perseid Pierces Through Smoky Skies

Smoke from wildfires in California obscured the view of the Perseid meteor shower for much of the western U.S., but astrophotographer Maxim Senin managed to capture a few meteors from the Los Angeles Astronomic Society's dark-sky site in Los Padres National Forest.

Perseid Pierces Through Smoky Skies

The night sky "was not as dark as usual due to California wild fires," Senin told Space.com in an email, "but still a lot of stars, planets, constellations etc. visible with naked eye — though not as clear because of a thin layer of smoke."

A fireball that streaked across the sky above the Thule Air Base in Greenland on July 25 was notable for not only the 2.1 kilotons of energy it released — the second-most-energetic "explosion" of its kind recorded this year — but also the stir it caused on social media and the frenzied calls it prompted to the U.S. Air Force.

And the blazing rock — which was traveling at about 54,000 mph (87,000 km/h), about 74 times the speed of sound, according to The Aviationist — may have sent meteorites to the ground for passersby (the few people who happened to be this far north of the Arctic Circle) to discover.

The first reports of the meteor above Greenland came from two tweets from scientists. On July 31, Ron Baalke, of the Solar System Dynamics group at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (or "Rocket Ron" on Twitter), wrote, "A fireball was detected over Greenland on July 25, 2018 by US Government sensors at an altitude of 43.3 km. The energy from the explosion is estimated to be 2.1 kilotons." His tweet was followed by a similar one on Aug. 1 by Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project for the Federation of American Scientists: "Meteor explodes with 2.1 kilotons force 43 km above missile early warning radar at Thule Air Base." [Top 10 Greatest Explosions Ever]

Apparently, the news reports that stemmed from those tweets led to a flurry of calls from reporters to both the air base and NASA asking about potential harm to the Thule Air Base, according to the Military Times.

So, what's up with the fireball? Though meteors like this one are large enough to create a blaze when entering the atmosphere, they are not big enough to be seen before they plow through Earth's atmosphere.

"These objects are only a few meters across and smaller, which is too small to be detected before they strike the Earth," Robert Lunsford, a longtime meteor observer with the American Meteor Society, told Live Science. "Therefore, we have no idea when and where such events will occur."

When this Greenland meteor ripped through the atmosphere last month, some 750 miles (1,200 kilometers) north of the Arctic Circle, some sensors in the global network run by the base's 21st Space Wing detected it.

"As the meteor[s] enter the atmosphere, they ablate until they either completely disintegrate or remnants fall to the ground," Lunsford said. "The shock wave generated by the collision with the atmosphere is the source of the 'explosion' and resulting estimate of impact energy."

These objects are too small to cause much damage, unless someone gets hit by a fragment of the rock or if someone is near the sound blast, he said. That did indeed occur in 2013, when a 55-foot (17 meters) meteor struck Chelyabinsk, Russia. The shock wave from the impact smashed windows and damaged buildings, and more than 1,000 people were injured.

For comparison, that fireball packed 300 kilotons of energy, or 20 to 25 times more energy than the atomic bombs dropped during World War II. Even so, the Chelyabinsk impact was much less powerful than the Tunguska meteor explosion in Siberia that released 10 to 15 megatons (10,000 to 15,000 kilotons) of energy in 1908, Live Science previously reported. 

Though the Greenland fireball explosion was significant, nobody saw it.

"Being that it was such a remote location, there are no pictures of this fireball," Lunsford said. "In fact, we have not received any visual reports, either. If not for the U.S. government sensors, we would not even know about this object."

Originally published on Live Science.

Approximately 4.5 billion years ago, the catastrophic explosion of a massive star, a supernova, caused an immense cloud of cosmic dust and gas to come together and form our solar system. But exactly how the planets were built remains somewhat of a mystery to scientists.

Now, a newly discovered, 4.6-billion-year-old, sparkly, green meteorite that formed just before that explosion is helping scientists learn more about how the solar system's planets were pieced together.

The remarkable, baseball-size space rock, called Northwest Africa (NWA) 11119, was acquired by a meteorite dealer in Africa in 2016. That dealer sent the specimen to Carl Agee, a planetary geologist and meteorite curator at the University of New Mexico. Agee wasn't sure if the rock was a meteorite (which would mean it came from space), so he asked his doctoral student Poorna Srinivasan to analyze the object. [Photo Gallery: Images of Martian Meteorites]

At first, both Agee and Srinivasan were skeptical that the rock had come from beyond our planet. "We did not think this rock was a meteor at all. We thought it was from Earth," Srinivasan told Live Science. But after closer examination, she said, "we saw that this could, in no way, be from Earth." While the rock closely resembled volcanic rocks on Earth, its chemical composition indicated it was definitely from space, and it wasn't just an ordinary meteorite, the researchers found.

NWA 11119 is an igneous meteorite, which means it was formed by the cooling and solidification of magma or lava (which is what magma is called once it reaches a planet's surface). At 4.6 billion years old, NWA 11119 is the oldest igneous meteorite ever discovered. (Srinivasan explained that several nonigneous meteorites are even older.)

Large silica crystals, called tridymite, account for about 30 percent of NWA 11119. That amount of tridymite is comparable to what's found in volcanic rocks on Earth, but it's unheard of in meteorites, Srinivasan said in a University of New Mexico statement.

Overall, the composition of NWA 11119 is strikingly similar to the material that makes up Earth's crust, the outer layer of rock that forms a solid shell around the planet. That's why the researchers suspect that NWA 11119 is a crustal rock from an asteroid with a crust layer that formed in a way similar to how Earth's crust formed.

Additional chemical analyses revealed that the meteorite closely resembled two other unusual meteorites — NWA 7235 and Almahata Sitta — suggesting that all three space rocks may have come from the same parent body, Srinivasan said.

There is still much scientists don't understand about how planets are built, but a discovery like this one can help researchers understand "what an earlier version of Earth might have looked like," Srinivasan said.

"There's still so much to learn about how Earth's crust could have formed," she said. "We just scraped the surface here."

Srinivasan is the lead author on the study describing NWA 11119, published yesterday (Aug. 2) in the journal Nature Communications.

Original article on Live Science.

The first mission designed to hunt a meteorite that crashed into the ocean has now discovered what may be tiny fragments of the meteorite's crust, researchers say.

On March 7, three National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather stations detected the fall of a meteorite about 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) off the coast of Washington state. "The fall was widely seen around local areas and widely heard around local areas — it came with some loud sonic booms," Marc Fries, the cosmic dust curator for NASA, told Live Science.

Fries estimated this fall might yield about 4,400 lbs. (2,000 kilograms) of meteorites. He also calculated the largest meteorite might weigh about 9.7 lbs. (4.4 kg) and have a diameter of about 5 inches (12 centimeters). [Crash! The 10 Biggest Impact Craters on Earth]

"This is the largest meteorite fall I've seen in 20-plus years of radar data," Fries said.

The details the scientists had regarding the fall suggested the meteorite was unusually strong, Fries said. This knowledge, in combination with the fact the meteorite landed on a soft seafloor as opposed to dry land, suggested this ocean fall might yield large, relatively intact meteorites for scientists to study.

Until now, scientists had never intentionally recovered a meteorite from the ocean, Fries said. In the past, researchers had accidentally discovered a couple of meteorites from drilling samples taken from the seafloor, he noted. However, this latest endeavor is the "first intentional search for meteorites from the ocean," Fries said.

Ocean Exploration Trust, a scientific research nonprofit organization, worked with scientists from NOAA's Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, NASA and the University of Washington to locate any meteorites from this fall.

On July 1, the Exploration Vessel Nautilus investigated about 0.4 square mile (1 square kilometer) of water in the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, located off the coast of Washington state, sailing about 330 feet (100 meters) above the seafloor. The ship used multibeam sonar to map the seafloor, but the team "didn't really see any smoking-gun signature of a meteorite, any change to the texture of the seafloor," Nicole Raineault, leader of the expedition and the vice president of exploration and science operations at the Ocean Exploration Trust, told Live Science.

On July 2, the scientists deployed two remote-controlled submarines — the Hercules and the Argus — to investigate the seafloor. If the researchers saw anything interesting through the cameras of these remotely operated vehicles, they directed the robots to pick them up using either magnets or a suction pump.

The researchers did not spot any meteorites, as the seafloor was very soft, "and in all likelihood, any meteorites sank into the seafloor," Fries said.

However, after returning to the lab and spending 6 hours analyzing sediment, the team identified what seemed to be meteorite fragments in the last sample they had gathered, Fries said. "So far, we see two small fragments," he said.

"The meteorite fragments are small, melted pieces of rock," Fries said. Each about 2 to 3 millimeters [0.08 to 0.12 inches] large, they likely came "from the outside of a meteorite. When a meteor enters the atmosphere, it accrues what's called a fusion crust — "you have flash-melting of the rock, which coats the rock like pottery glaze," he said.

The reason Fries thinks these fragments are from the recent meteorite fall is that they are "basically made of glass, and such flash-melted glassy materialsdo not tend to last long in seawater." Moreover, these fragments "looked like they came from a small pit in the seafloor," Fries said. "It's some evidence that they came from something that fell."

Now, Fries and his colleagues will analyze these fragments in the lab to see what they are made of. "If they are meteoric in origin, we can tell what kind of meteorite they came from," he said.

Additional smaller meteorite fragments may lurk in sediment that the researchers collected. "We regularly deal with specks naked to the eye," Fries said. "We can deal with smaller things."

There are no plans to return to the site tolook for more meteorite fragments, but, Fries said, "I certainly wouldn't mind going."

Originally published on Live Science.

On March 7 of this year, a bright meteorite (called a bolide) fall was observed about 15 miles (25 kilometers) off the coast of Grays Harbor County, Washington.

Ocean Exploration Trust is working with scientists from Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary, NASA and the University of Washington to locate the meteorite fall. You can follow their mission live here: http://www.nautiluslive.org. 

The Exploration Vessel Nautilus mapped a 0.4 square mile (1 square kilometer) patch of ocean, which is being searched by remotely operated underwater vehicles, called Hercules and Argus. If these robotic submarines find anything, it will be big news — the first known recovery of a meteorite from the ocean.

One dive occurred yesterday (July 2), from approximately 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT (1600 to 2300 GMT; 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local Washington time), mission team members said in an update. You can learn more about the meteorite hunt, which runs through Wednesday (July 4), in this video. 

An analysis by NASA Cosmic Dust Curator Marc Fries, who is aboard Nautilus for the expedition, indicates that this fall contained about two tons of meteorites. Fries estimates that, at the fall site for the largest meteorite, there may be two to three meteorites for every 110 square feet (10 square meters) of seafloor.

Support for this expedition comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, the Ocean Exploration Trust and the National Geographic Society.

Leonard David is author of "Mars: Our Future on the Red Planet," published by National Geographic. The book is a companion to the National Geographic Channel series "Mars." A longtime writer for Space.com, David has been reporting on the space industry for more than five decades. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. This version of the story published on Space.com.

In 2008, pieces of diamond encased in rock descended from space and landed in the Nubian Desert of Sudan. And, according to a new study, these meteorite crystals provide the first physical evidence of an ancient lost building block from the dawn of the solar system.

In the study, a research team found that the Almahata Sitta meteorite once belonged to a protoplanet, one of tens of early worlds that experienced impacts and buildups to ultimately create the rocky planets in our solar system.

The diamond pieces inside the meteorite hold a compelling record of these protoplanets and their collisions, according to the study. Until now, the existence of these early worlds were only predicted by simulation models. [Meteorite Studies Reveal Surprises About Earth's Formation]

The diamond meteorite appears to have originated on a protoplanet between the size of the moon and Mars that collided with other objects during the first 10 million years of the solar system and no longer exists as a whole, according to a statement about the recent study. These crashes were big and energetic and, in the case of the diamond-laden meteorite's parent body, caused catastrophic disruptions that the crystals captured.

Diamonds can act as time capsules: They trap nearby minerals during the formation process and, with their strength and stability, preserve material that scientists call inclusions. On Earth, diamonds are used to identify the structure and composition of the planet's deep layers.

Therefore, the meteorite diamonds reveal information about their parent protoplanet. Analysis of the Almahata Sitta meteorite reveals that it is an achondrite, a rare type of space rock that comes from celestial bodies that are large enough to generate internal heat early in their history so as to produce metallic cores surrounded by rock. Therefore, the Almahata Sitta rock comes from a big asteroid or early planet, the research teamsaid.

Because this meteorite has high concentrations of carbon manifested as diamond and graphite, Almahata Sitta is a type of meteorite called a ureilite.

In the new study, lead author Farhang Nabiei, a materials scientist at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, in Switzerland, and colleagues detailed what they found upon analyzing the inclusions inside the ureilite diamonds. The scientists used transmission electron microscopy to study the high-pressure environment that formed the crystals and altered the minerals around it, and determined that the composition and shapes of the inclusions inside the diamonds must have formed at high pressures (above 20 gigapascals).

This means the parent body of the Almahata Sitta meteorite was on the larger side of the protoplanet scale — Mercury-to-Mars size — and that this space rock's remaining fragments are what's left of this ancient celestial body, Nabiei said.

The study was published online April 17 in the journal Nature Communications.

Follow Doris Elin Salazar on Twitter @salazar_elin. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.

April Lyrids over Aizanoi

The April Lyrids, a meteor shower lasting from April 16 to April 26 each year, is seen over the ancient city of Aizanoi in Kutahya, Turkey on Apr. 23, 2014. Aizanoi is an ancient city in western Anatolia in Cavdarhisar, Kütahya. The city has a temple built for Zeus which is the best-preserved temple in all of Anatolia, and also has a large theatre, a stadium adjacent to theatre, two Turkish-style baths, a gymnasium, five bridges on Kocacay which are still used today, an old dam, a trading building, and avenues with columns on both sides, necropolis areas and the sacred cave of Metre Steune. [Lyrid Meteor Shower: When, Where & How to See It]

April Lyrids over Thanlyin

This long-exposure photograph taken on Apr. 23, 2015 on Earth Day shows Lyrids meteors shower passing near the Milky Way in the clear night sky of Thanlyin, nearly 14 miles away from Yangon.

April Lyrids over Cornwall

Hardy Monument, near Portesham, Dorset, UK. Apr. 23, 2017. Spectacular annual Lyrid meteor shower which can have up to 30 to 40 per hour at its peak above the historic Hardy Monument. A single vertical meteor can be seen just above the Milky Way.

April Lyrids over Appleby, Cumbria

Three images combine to create a view of a Lyrid Meteor Shower over The Pennines at Appleby, Cumbria.

April Lyrids over Cornwall

In Mousehole, Cornwall, UK on Apr. 21, 2017, clear skies gave a good viewing of the Lyrid Meteors early in the evening.

April Lyrids over Castlerigg

The Lyrid meteor shower, made up of falling debris from comet Thatcher, peaked at 10 to 15 meteors per hour on Apr. 21, 2017, over the stone circle at Castlerigg near Keswick in Cumbria.

2012 Lyrid Meteor Shower: Veerayen Mohanadas

A Lyrid meteor shines bright in this amazing long exposure view from photographer Veerayen Mohanadas of Kulim, Kedah in Malaysia. Mohanadas took this image during the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower peak on April 22, 2012.

Lyrid Meteor Shower 2012: Marian Murdoch

Skywatcher and photographer Marian Murdoch snapped this photo of a Lyrid meteor from Ridgecrest, Calif., during the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower peak on April 22, 2012.

Lyrid Meteor Shower 2012: Bill Allen

Photographer Bill Allen of Ralph, Saskatchewan in Canada captured this amazing view of a Lyrid meteor and the northern lights during the Lyrid meteor shower peak overnight on April 21-22, 2012

Lyrid Meteor Shower 2012: Brian Emfinger

Skywatcher and photographer Brian Emfinger captured this magnificent Lyrid fireball with the Milky Way in the background from Ozark, Ark., during the April 21-22 peak of the 2012 Lyrid meteor shower.

Milky Way and Lyrid Meteor over Crater Lake

Veteran night sky photographer Brad Goldpaint took this amazing photo of the Milky Way and a Lyrid meteor over Crater Lake, Oregon, during three years of astronomical photo sessions. The image is featured in Goldpaint's night sky observing video "Within Two Worlds."

Lyrid Meteor Over Southern Maryland

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes captured this Lyrid meteor in the marshlands of southern Maryland on April 14, 2013.

2013 Lyrid Meteors Over New Haven, Missouri

Astrophotographer Adam Gerdes sent in a photo of Lyrid meteors taken over New Haven, Missouri. Image submitted April 22, 2013.

Lyrid Meteors and the Milky Way Over Hope Valley, California.

Astrophotographer Mark Lissick sent in a photo of Lyrid meteors and the Milky Way, taken on April 22, 2013, in Hope Valley, California (near Lake Tahoe).

Lyrid Meteor Shower Over Tucson, Ariz.

Astrophotographer Sean Parker captured this 12-photo panorama showing two Lyrid meteors over the Catalina Mountains just outside Tucson, Ariz., on April 21, 2013.

Yellow Fireball Lyrid over Rhode Island

Astrophotographer Deb Kestler sent in a photo of a Lyrid meteor taken over Rhode Island on April 22, 2014.

Lyrid Meteor Over Texas, April 2014

Astrophotographer Tony Corso captured this photo of a Lyrid meteor taken in northeast Texas, near Paris, on April 22, 2014.

2015 Lyrid Meteors Near Tucson, Arizona

Meteors seen during the 2015 Lyrid shower, captured by photographer Sean Parker outside Tucson, Arizona.

2015 Lyrid Meteor Seen in Hungary

A Lyrid meteor is visible in the lower right portion of the image, above the nearest building, in this image taken in in Kocsér, Hungary. The other streaks in the image were created by airplanes.

A space rock slammed into Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday night (March 7), putting on a brief but brilliant sky show, according to media reports.

The fireball and associated boom were caused by an object about the size of a minivan. It streaked over Washington and eventually fell, in smoldering bits and broken-up pieces, into the Pacific Ocean about 14 miles (22 kilometers) off the state's coast, NASA meteor expert Marc Fries told Seattle TV station Q13 Fox.

And there were a lot of those pieces raining down.

"It's really dramatic in the radar imagery, to the point that this is probably the biggest meteorite fall I've seen in the continental U.S. in the past 20 years," Fries, who's based at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, told Q13 Fox.

Hundreds of people reported seeing the fireball Wednesday night, Q13 Fox said. And scientists picked up readings of the event, using seismographs and satellites, from as far away as the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Technically, any meteor that blazes more brightly than Venus in the sky is a fireball. Wednesday's meteor was an uber-fireball, a superluminous type known as a bolide, Fries said.

Space rocks are responsible for most of the fireballs we see, but not all of them; sometimes the burning-up object was made by human hands. The dazzling meteor that lit up skies over the Western U.S. in July 2016, for instance, was caused by a 6-ton piece of a Chinese rocket that fell back to Earth.

And another big piece of Chinese hardware could put on a sky show soon. The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1 space lab — which China used to help practice the docking and rendezvous maneuvers needed to build an orbiting space station — is scheduled to make an uncontrolled re-entry between March 24 and April 19, according to the latest estimates.

Editor's note: If you capture an amazing photo or video of a meteor or any other celestial sight and would like to share it with Space.com for a story or gallery, send images and comments to: spacephotos@space.com. 

Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com.

The Quadrantid Meteor Shower!

The Quadrantid meteor shower is always the first display of the year, peaking between Jan. 2 and 4, and can be a dazzling one to behold for lucky stargazers. See the best Quadrantid meteor photos by our readers and more over the years here! This Photo: Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this photo Jan. 4, 2012 from the Florida Keys, capturing meteors and the ethereal zodiacal light.

A Slowpoke Quadrantid

The image shows the meteor's path captured by an allsky color camera, also located at the Marshall Center.

Star Streaks and a Meteor

This long-exposure photo by Roberto Porto shows the bright arcs of star trails and a bright Quadrantid meteor in the predawn sky over Tenerife in Spain's Canary Islands during the 2012 shower.

Suspected Quadrantid

Brian Emfinger took this photograph of a possible Quadrantid meteor on Jan. 2, 2012, in Ozark, Arkansas. He referred to this image as a "cropped star trail stack."

Off the Florida Keys

Astrophotographer Jeff Berkes took this photo of the Quadrantid meteor shower on Jan. 4, 2012.

In False Color

False-color image of a rare early Quadrantid, captured by a NASA meteor camera in 2010.

Quadrantid Meteor Over Ohio

Astrophotographer John Chumack sent in his photo of a Quadrantid meteor taken over his house in Dayton, OH, on Dec. 31, 2012.

A Bright Streak

Brian Emfinger took this photograph on Jan. 2, 2012, in Ozark, Arkansas. He said: "The radiant is very, very close to the Quadrantid but I'm not 100% sure it is indeed a Quadrantid."

Quadrantid Over Maurice River, NJ

Astrophotographer Jack Fusco caught the Quadrantid meteor shower in Maurice River, NJ, at the East Point Lighthouse, January 2012. He says this image consists of "a total of 509 frames stacked to create star trails showing the meteors through the trails. The trails were taken from 3 am until just after 6 am which accounts for the early twilight light in the right side of the frame."

Meteors Over Tucson

Astrophotographer Sean Parker produced this image of Quandrantid meteors over Tucson, AZ, on Jan. 3, 2013. He writes: "The boneyard [aircraft graveyard] is run by the [Davis-Monthan] Air Force base which requires clearance, and is surrounded by 10-foot barbed wire fences. But fortunately I have a Jeep and a tall tripod – so I drove around numerous spots looking for a place I could pull … close to the fence and take pictures from on top. And I found one."

Quadrantid in Connecticut

Astrophotographer Scott Tully sends us a shot of a Quadrantid meteor taken over the northwest hills of Connecticut on January 3, 2012.

Quandrantid Over Hudson, NY

Astrophotographer Jonathan Simons took this photograph of a Quadrantid meteor in Hudson, NY, on Jan. 4, 2012, at 4:30 am [local time].

Spot the Meteor

Astrophotographer Jack Fusco caught the Quadrantid meteor shower in Maurice River, NJ, at the East Point Lighthouse, January 2012. A meteor is visible over the right side of the lighthouse.

A Dazzling Display

Amateur photographer Roberto Porto snapped this photo of a Quadrantid meteor streaking over the volcanic island ofTenerife in Spain's Canary Islands on Jan. 4, 2012 during the meteor shower's peak.

A remote island in Scotland bears traces of out-of-this-world minerals from a 60-million-year-old meteorite impact.

A team of geologists from Birkbeck, University of London was examining volcanic rocks on the remote Isle of Skye in Scotland when they uncovered rare minerals that have never before been found on Earth, according to a study that was published Dec. 12 in the journal GeoScienceWorld.

In the study, the team focused on a 3.3-foot-thick (1-meter) layer at the base of a 60-million-year-old lava flow deposit. Using an electron microprobe, which shoots electrons at samples and analyzes the X-rays the samples emit in response, the researchers found that rocks from the area contained rare minerals from space. [Crash! 10 Biggest Impact Craters on Earth]

The mysterious mineral, vanadium-rich and niobium-rich osbornite, was previously only found in dust samples from space on the comet 81P/Wild 2, collected by NASA's Stardust Comet Sample Return Mission.

"When we discovered what it was we were very surprised, and it was a bit of a shock because we were not expecting that," study co-author Andy Beard, a lecturer in the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Birkbeck, University of London, said in the statement.

The osbornite was discovered unmelted, suggesting that it was likely an original piece of the meteorite. Other minerals associated with impacts were also found at the site, the researchers said.

In fact, the same strange mineralogy was also found at a second site located 4.3 miles (7 kilometers) away. This site was a 6.6-foot (2 m) thick layer of material ejected from a crater, according to the statement.

This discovery raises questions about the region — also known as the British Paleogene Igneous Province (BPIP) — and where the ancient meteorite hit. It's also possible that the meteorite impact triggered the outpouring of volcanic lava believed to have started at the same time, the researchers said.

The area in which the researchers discovered the unusual minerals is very steep, rough and boggy, which may have deterred previous researchers from sampling the site. 

 "We were sinking in up to our thighs. I distinctly recall saying to Andy Beard, 'this had better be worth it,'" lead author Simon Drake, an associate lecturer in geology at the same institution, said in the statement. "It was worth it."

Original article published on Live Science.

Over the Desert

The Geminid meteor shower of 2017 peaked overnight on Dec. 13 and 14 and thrilled stargazers able to see it with dazzling meteors. Read our full story and see a video here. See photos from the meteor shower by Space.com readers here. This Photo: Photographer Tyler Leavitt captured this image of a Geminid meteor dashing through the sky over the Mojave desert just south of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Bright Geminid Over Alaska

A gorgeous, green meteor flies toward the northern lights in this stunning image by astrophotographer Matthew Skinner. He captured the meteor over a mountain range near Palmer, Alaska just after midnight on Dec. 14, when the Geminid meteor shower was at its peak. To the left of the meteor, a lime-green aurora peeks out from the top of the mountain range.

Tarantula Photobombs the Geminid Meteor Shower

During a live webcast of the Geminid meteor shower, hosted by the Virtual Telescope Project, a tarantula crept across the camera as a meteor streaked across the sky in the upper edge of the image.

Las Vegas Burst

A Geminid meteor bursts through the night sky in this image taken by photographer Tyler Leavitt near Las Vegas, Nevada. Above the meteor, you can see the Andromeda galaxy, our closest galactic neighbor.

Behind a Tree

A Geminid meteor crosses the sky behind a tree in the Mojave desert in this photo by Tyler Leavitt.

Tuscon Desert Meteor

A giant Geminid meteor bursts into the edge of the frame in this shot taken by astrophotographer BG Boyd in Tucson, Arizona.

Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico Show

Photographer Jorge Colomer captured this shot of a Geminid meteor over Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

Paris, Texas Streaks

Multiple Geminid meteors streak through the sky in this photo captured by Tony Corso just south of Paris, Texas.

Clear Skies

Photographer Tony Corso captured a bright Geminid meteor under clear, starry skies just south of Paris, Texas.

Geminid Meteors over the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Three small Geminid meteors streak through the evening sky over snow-capped mountains at Donner Pass, a mountain range in the northern Sierra Nevadas. Photographer Tony Fuentes captured this image during the peak of the Geminid meteor shower on Dec. 13.

Through the Branches

Photographer Jorge Colomer captured this shot of a Geminid meteor over Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

Above the Palms

Photographer Don Brandl captured this meteor streaking through the sky above some palm trees in Mims, Florida.

Between the Clouds

In Honolulu, Hawaii, photographer Kalani Pokipala shot this image of a Geminid meteor in a clear patch of sky just before rainclouds rolled in and began to obstruct the view.

Geminid Meteor in Tennessee

A Geminid meteor passes over an abandoned house in Lancaster, Tennessee in this photo by Jodi Fialkowski.

Introduction

Get your winter coats ready for the Geminid meteor shower, the bright, mid-December light show that's one of the best of the year. In 2017, the peak runs from the night of Dec. 13 to the morning of Dec. 14 — but in the meantime, here are six super facts about the upcoming shooting stars. [Geminid Meteor Shower 2017: When, Where & How to See It]

Top meteor rates

The Geminid meteors are bright, so skywatchers can spot as many as 120 of the objects streaking by per hour in dark skies. This happens as pieces of dust and debris burn up in Earth's atmosphere. The meteors appear to radiate from the bright constellation Gemini, but they can appear all over the sky! In fact, meteors farther from Gemini are likely to have longer tails and be easier to spot.

Sunny visitor

The meteor shower is caused by dust and debris strewn in the path of the asteroid 3200 Phaethon, which itself orbits Earth every 1.4 years. The asteroid passes within 13 million miles (21 million kilometers) of the sun on each orbit, 14 percent the distance between Earth and the sun. This earned the space rock the name Phaethon, after the Greek sun-god Helios' chariot driver.

200 years old

The Geminids were first spotted almost 200 years ago; the first recorded observation came in 1833 from a riverboat on the Mississippi River. But at the time, only 10-20 meteors per hour could be seen. [How to See the Best Meteor Showers of the Year]

Getting stronger

Since the meteor shower's discovery, it has steadily gained strength — from 10-20 meteors per hour to around 120 visible per hour today. Researchers say that Jupiter's gravity has pulled the asteroid's stream of dust and debris closer to Earth, which means our planet hits more debris, creating a more spectacular show. Enjoy it now — it's possible that Jupiter's gravity will disturb the path enough that it travels out of Earth's orbit altogether someday.

Asteroid mashup?

Why the sudden start to the meteor shower 200 years ago? One theory holds that 3200 Phaethon crashed into another space rock, causing the outpouring of debris that produces the meteor shower today. That collision would have produced a trail of dust that wasn't noticeable from Earth until Jupiter tugged the asteroid into Earth's path.

Researchers also hypothesize that the asteroid broke off from the huge asteroid Pallas, causing the spray of dust and debris. But NASA meteor expert Bill Cooke said the shower's dust particles don't match that hypothesis well.

Because of Phaethon's daring dives past the sun, researchers have suggested that the heat blasts the particles we see off of the asteroid. Phaethon reaches more than 1,300 degrees Fahrenheit (700 degrees Celsius) and seems to get a dusty tail during that passage near the sun.

Early birds' friend

While most meteor showers are best seen after midnight, the Geminids have a special appeal to early birds. These meteors appear in the sky as early as 10 p.m. local time, Cooke said, although they peak at 2 a.m. To see the Geminids, go to a dark area outside and prepare to settle in for the long haul — allow at least 30 minutes for your eyes to adjust, lean back and look at the whole sky, because the meteors can appear anywhere. And if it's cold where you are, don't forget to bundle up!