Month: October 2013

We never know what we are going to see when we check the NASA Marshall meteor cameras each morning. Over time, we’ve acquired quite a collection of startling and fascinating images captured by various cameras. In the spirit of Halloween fun, we’ve put together a collection that reminds us of All Hallow’s Eve. We’ve found everything from creepy-crawlies to a cauldron bubble to… who goes there! Enjoy our spooktacular seasonal fun!

Creepy Crawly (Bug on camera dome)

Spirit Orb (Moon halo caused by moonlight refracting through ice crystals in the air)

Who Goes There! (Owl perching on camera lens)

Cauldron Bubble (Cloudy moonlit night)

The Grim (A break in the clouds)

Night Time Bandit (A curious raccoon)

In the early morning of October 25, 5:45 a.m. CDT, a scientist at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, using a 14” inch telescope captured this image of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which is brightening as it approaches the Sun. The comet shines with a faint green color just to the left of center; the diagonal streak right of center was caused by the Italian SkyMed-2 satellite passing through the field of view. At magnitude 8.5, the comet is still too faint for the unaided eye or small binoculars, but is an easy target in a small telescope.

Just so you know – there was a very bright event over Southwest on Saturday, October 19 at 8:16 PM local time.

The fireball was picked up New Mexico State University meteor camera. It looks to be a grazing fireball.

“ We are uncertain of the origin of the fireball at this time. However, this one was very bright!” said Bill Cooke, lead of NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office located at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, AL.