Space Weather News for June 16, 2006

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NORWEGIAN FIREBALL: A spectacular fireball that flew over Norway last week,
causing sonic booms and making the ground shake when a meteorite presumably hit
the ground, was not quite as spectacular as first reported. Researchers now
estimate the kinetic energy of the event as 300 tons of TNT, far short of the
Hiroshima-like blast described in some news reports.

Space rocks with this much energy hit Earth more often than is commonly
supposed--once a month or so. Most go unnoticed because they enter the
atmosphere over uninhabited stretches of our planet, or during broad daylight
when fireballs are difficult to see, or at late hours of the night when would-be
sky watchers are asleep. This one was seen (and by some accounts felt), so it
made a bigger "splash" than usual. Searchers are still scouring the countryside
for possible fragments of the meteorite.

MARS AND SATURN: After passing through the Beehive star cluster last night,
Mars is on a collision course with Saturn--at least it looks that way. The two
planets will not collide, but they will have a pleasing close encounter in the
evening sky on Saturday night, June 17th. Look west after sunset.

Visit http://spaceweather.com for sky maps and further information.