You could surely complain that the Universe is far from being the warm-welcoming and friendly place that we’ve all heard of when we were little. The great English physicist Stephen Hawking said that life would be tragic if it weren’t funny. May God rest his soul in peace, as he was a great scientist!
But here’s one thing that you certainly cannot complain about when it comes to the nature we live in: you sure cannot get bored. From time to time, the Universe fires a big chunk of space rock at us to remind us who’s boss. When it happens, you can be either frightened or boil with excitement. There seems to be no in between.
A fireball ignites the skies over Australia Wednesday morning
According to abc.net.au, a new fireball swept across the skies of Western Australia this Wednesday morning at around 5 am.
Australians living in different areas reported the sighting and also a loud noise.
https://youtu.be/Pe5Y1vzBzkU
Fireballs are basically meteors that reach an unusual state of brightness. Therefore, not every meteor qualifies as a fireball.
Here’s an interesting quote from Seth Shostak, an American astronomer:
The stars look the same from night to night. Nebulae and galaxies are dully immutable, maintaining the same overall appearance for thousands or millions of years. Indeed, only the sun, moon and planets – together with the occasional comet, asteroid or meteor – seem dynamic.
Most asteroids come from the asteroid belt that’s located between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter. Although it’s practically impossible to say for sure how many asteroids exist in that area, astronomers estimate that there are more than a million.
For a space rock to come from another solar system than ours, that would be a lot more difficult. But still, you know what they say that you should be careful what you wish for.
