<div class="gmail_quote"><br>Space Weather News for Dec. 6, 2008<br><a href="http://spaceweather.com/" target="_blank">http://spaceweather.com</a><br><br>COLORADO FIREBALL: Last night, a fireball one hundred times brighter than the full Moon lit up the sky near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Astronomer Chris Peterson photographed the event using an all-sky video camera dedicated to meteor studies. "In seven years of operation, this is the brightest fireball I've ever recorded. I estimate the terminal explosion at magnitude -18." Meteors this bright are called superbolides; they are caused by small (meter-class) asteroids and are likely to pepper the ground with meteorites when they explode. Visit <a href="http://spaceweather.com/" target="_blank">http://spaceweather.com</a> to watch the fireball video and contribute sighting reports that could help pinpoint any meteoritic debris.<br>
<br>TUMBLING TOOLBAG: The space station's famous sidekick, the ISS Toolbag, is circling Earth and reportedly producing flashes of light bright enough to record using off-the-shelf digital cameras. The flashes, shown in a photo on today's edition of Spaceweather.com, could be a sign that the bag is tumbling. Both the Toolbag and the ISS will be making a series of evening passes over North America and Europe in the evenings ahead, so now is a good time to look. Check the Simple Satellite Tracker for viewing times: <a href="http://spaceweather.com/flybys" target="_blank">http://spaceweather.com/flybys</a><br>
<br>BONUS: The Dec. 1st Great Conjunction Photo Gallery continues to grow with daily additions from around the world. Start browsing here: <a href="http://spaceweather.com/conjunctions/gallery_01dec08.htm" target="_blank">http://spaceweather.com/conjunctions/gallery_01dec08.htm</a><br>
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</div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>CT2HIV<br>José A. Proença<br>IM58KP<br>