Meteors

Astronomers Say Recent Rash of Meteor Sightings ‘Warrants Serious Investigation’

About a dozen of the biggest fireballs spotted by hundreds of witnesses across the sky are all coming from the same place, according to a new trajectory analysis.

Space & Spaceflight Matthew Phelan

A map of Texas with highlighted areas to show where fragments of a meteorite may have fallen.

Fallen Meteorite May Have Hit a Home in Houston

NASA confirmed a meteor traveled over Texas after residents spotted a bright fireball in the skies on Saturday.

Space & Spaceflight Passant Rabie

A close-up of a man holding up a pebble-sized meteorite

Meteorite Crashes Into Georgia Home, Turns Out to Be 20 Million Years Older Than Earth

Studying this ancient space rock will help scientists prepare for larger, more dangerous asteroid impacts.

Space & Spaceflight Ellyn Lapointe

What Just Hit the Moon?

Flashes on our natural satellite's surface suggest the annual Geminids meteor shower isn't just making an impact on Earth.

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz

Image of a Perseid meteor streaking over Joshua Tree National Park.

The Perseids Are Back: How to Watch One of the Best Meteor Showers of the Year

The famous Perseids, among the year's most spectacular meteor showers, will hit their peak on the night of August 11.

Space & Spaceflight Adam Kovac

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

Scientists Find a Meteorite That Could Reshape Our Understanding of Asteroids

Scientists have released an analysis of a meteorite fragment gathered after a 2008 asteroid near-collision with Earth. They show the parent asteroid was huge, and the results suggest that special, water-holding type of asteroids can be larger and have different mineral compositions than previously thought. The study’s findings were published this week in the journal…

Space & Spaceflight Isaac Schultz

Ominous Green Fireball Lights Up Skies Over Australian Outback

A greenish-blue fireball streaked across the skies over Australia last night, in an event captured by awe-struck observers on the ground. The object appeared shortly before 1:00 a.m. local time, with witness accounts reported from the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Northern Territory, and South Australia, reports ABC News. The nature of the object has…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Struck Earth at ‘Deadliest Possible Angle,’ New Research Suggests

When the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs hit Earth, it struck at an angle that maximized its destructive potential, according to new computer simulations of the catastrophic event. The findings, published in new paper on Tuesday in Nature Communications, show that the dino-killing asteroid came from the northeast at an angle of between 45…

Earth Science George Dvorsky

This Could Be the First Record of Someone Getting Killed by a Meteorite

A team of scientists think they’ve found the oldest evidence of a meteorite striking and killing a person, according to a new report published in the journal journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science. Given the hype around space rocks hitting Earth, there are surprisingly few records of meteorites striking people, much less killing anyone. But scientists…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

A Spectacular Fireball Lights Up the English Sky

Check out this incredible photo of a streaking fireball, which appeared over England last week. The photo, captured by Christopher Small, was taken in Bude, a seaside resort town in northeast Cornwall, England, reports the European Space Association (ESA). The stunning sight appeared 36 minutes before the stroke of midnight on January 21, 2020. The…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Fireball Lights Up the Skies Over St. Louis During Northern Taurid Meteor Shower

Make a wish: Cameras in St. Louis, Missouri caught what appeared to be a meteor falling from the skies on Monday night, KSDL and KMOV reported. Both stations reported that local residents saw a flash of light and loud noise at about 8:55 p.m. local time (9:55 p.m. ET). Twitter user David Vergel posted footage…

Space & Spaceflight Tom McKay

How to Watch the Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight

One of the year’s best meteor showers peaks tonight into tomorrow and Wednesday, which means it’s a great opportunity to wake up early, find a dark place outdoors, and enjoy the spectacle. Space isn’t completely empty—clouds of dust left behind by comets dot Earth’s path around the Sun. When we pass through these clouds, specks…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Who Protects Earth From Asteroids?

Of all the things that could end our world, an asteroid strike may be the doomsday we have the most control over. In fact, an asteroid strike is near the bottom of the list of feasible armageddons. After all, we inhabit a nuclear weapon-armed world where human activity is permanently altering habitats and changing the…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Scientists Think They Know Why So Many Meteorites Look Like Cones

You might think of meteors as flashes in the sky that result in lumpy-looking meteorites on the ground. But not all meteorites are lumps. A substantial population, like the leftovers from the 2013 Chelyabinsk airburst, are notably conical. One team of scientists thinks they know why. A group of New York University researchers study how…

Physics & Chemistry Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Batwoman, Failed Airlines, and Height Enhancement Scams: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

It’s been a busy week for our friends at Facebook: Amid showing a bunch of loser far-right trolls and also Louis Farrakhan the door, kicking off an unhinged Twitter spree by the president, the company announced a confusing pivot towards being a privacy-first platform while also announcing other features designed to lure users into telling…

Tech News Tom McKay

Lunar Eclipse Meteorite Briefly Created a Spot on the Moon as Hot as the Sun

This past January, astronomers managed to capture the moment a space rock struck the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. Now we’re learning more about this unprecedented event, including the speed of the offending object and the intense temperatures reached during the impact. Our Moon gets struck by bits of debris left over from the…

Space & Spaceflight George Dvorsky

Try Your Luck at Watching the Lyrid Meteor Shower Tonight

The Lyrid meteor shower peaks tonight, but actually spotting a meteor could be tough going for lots of observers. Meteor watchers can expect around 18 meteors per hour at the show’s peak. But the bright moon, a waning gibbous two days after the full moon, could wash out some of these “shooting stars.” Seeing meteors…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

A Huge Asteroid Exploded Above Earth, and You Totally Missed It

The second-largest asteroid to hit Earth in the last 30 years went undetected, until now. The BBC reports: At about noon local time on 18 December, the asteroid barreled through the atmosphere at a speed of 32km/s (20 miles per second) , on a steep trajectory of seven degrees. Measuring several meters in size, the…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Michigan Man Discovers His Doorstop Actually a Meteorite Worth $100,000

A Michigan man recently learned that this 22-pound rock he used for decades as a doorstop on his farm was in fact a meteorite worth over $100,000. According to a Central Michigan University press release: The man, who asked to remain anonymous, obtained the meteorite in 1988 when he bought a farm in Edmore, Michigan,…

Tech News Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Will You Be Able to See the Perseid Meteor Shower This Weekend?

One of the year’s most active meteor showers, the Perseids, will peak overnight Saturday into Sunday and Sunday into Monday, with 60 to 70 meteors per hour. But lots of Gizmodo readers live in cities. So, inspired by a friend’s tweet, I wondered—will city dwellers see the meteor shower? The short answer is, if you…

Space & Spaceflight Ryan F. Mandelbaum

Meteors

Astronomers Say Recent Rash of Meteor Sightings ‘Warrants Serious Investigation’

Fallen Meteorite May Have Hit a Home in Houston

Meteorite Crashes Into Georgia Home, Turns Out to Be 20 Million Years Older Than Earth

What Just Hit the Moon?

The Perseids Are Back: How to Watch One of the Best Meteor Showers of the Year

Scientists Find a Meteorite That Could Reshape Our Understanding of Asteroids

Ominous Green Fireball Lights Up Skies Over Australian Outback

Dinosaur-Killing Asteroid Struck Earth at ‘Deadliest Possible Angle,’ New Research Suggests

This Could Be the First Record of Someone Getting Killed by a Meteorite

A Spectacular Fireball Lights Up the English Sky

Fireball Lights Up the Skies Over St. Louis During Northern Taurid Meteor Shower

How to Watch the Peak of the Perseid Meteor Shower Tonight

Who Protects Earth From Asteroids?

Scientists Think They Know Why So Many Meteorites Look Like Cones

Batwoman, Failed Airlines, and Height Enhancement Scams: Best Gizmodo Stories of the Week

Lunar Eclipse Meteorite Briefly Created a Spot on the Moon as Hot as the Sun

Try Your Luck at Watching the Lyrid Meteor Shower Tonight

A Huge Asteroid Exploded Above Earth, and You Totally Missed It

Michigan Man Discovers His Doorstop Actually a Meteorite Worth $100,000

Will You Be Able to See the Perseid Meteor Shower This Weekend?

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