2012 United Kingdom meteoroid

2012 Earth-grazing meteor above the UK

The 2012 UK meteoroid was an object that entered the atmosphere above the United Kingdom on Friday, 21 September 2012, around 11pm. Many news agencies across the UK reported this event.[1][2][3][4]

## Overview

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Several theories were made as to the origin of the sightings - from it being a meteoroid to a UFO. Initially, the most prominent theory was that it was an old artificial satellite (i.e. a large piece of space junk) re-entering the atmosphere.[5][6] However, later analysis showed that it was highly unlikely to be space junk; it travelled too fast, towards the slow end of the range of possible meteor speeds[7] and, in addition, it traversed the sky from east to west while almost all satellites orbit from west to east or north and south.[8]

According to Finnish mathematician Esko Lyytinen, the meteor was captured by Earth's gravity and entered the atmosphere once again above USA and Canada 155 minutes later.[9] If confirmed, this would classify it as an Earth-grazing meteor.

## See also

[edit]

* List of meteor air bursts
* Potentially hazardous object
* Near-Earth object
* Impact event
* Cyrillids

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "'Meteors' sighted in skies across UK". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012.
2. ^ "'Meteor' sightings across Scotland prompt 999 calls". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012.
3. ^ "Meteor 'Fireball' Lights Up Sky Across UK". Sky News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012.
4. ^ "Meteor mania: Watch VIDEO of huge comet spotted over north west England". The Mirror. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 22 September 2012.
5. ^ "Fireball in sky above Sheffield believed to be 'space junk'". The Star. 27 September 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012.
6. ^ "'Meteor shower' over Northern Ireland 'space junk'". BBC News. 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012.
7. ^ "More on the 21 September 2012 fireball: why it definitely was a meteor". 24 September 2012. Archived from the original on 27 September 2012.
8. ^ "Fireball over N-Europe on 21 September 2012, 21:45 GMT was likely NOT a reentry". 22 September 2012. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012.
9. ^ Esko Lyytinen (28 September 2012). "Breaking News - UK Earth-hugging Asteroid Circled the Earth and Hit Again". LunarMeteorite Hunter. Archived from the original on 12 May 2013.

12\. Phil Williams (January 2015) "The Meteoric Earth-Grazing Fireball of September 2012" Liverpool Astronomical Society Monthly Newsletter (January 2015, pp. 5–9)

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Modern impact events

On Earth|

| Pre-2000|

* 1490 Qingyang
* 1783 Great Meteor
* 1860 Great Meteor
* 1908 Tunguska
* 1913 Great Meteor Procession
* 1930 Curuçá River
* 1938 Chicora meteor
* 1947 Sikhote-Alin meteor
* 1969 Murchison meteor
* 1972 Great Daylight Fireball
* 1990 Earth-grazing meteoroid

|

Post-2000|

* 2002 Eastern Mediterranean event
* 2007 Carancas impact event
* 2008 TC3 impact
* 2008 Buzzard Coulee meteor
* 2009 Sulawesi superbolide
* 2012 Sutter's Mill meteor
* 2012 United Kingdom meteoroid
* 2012 Novato meteor
* 2013 Chelyabinsk meteor
* Chelyabinsk meteorite
* 2013 Braunschweig meteor
* 2014 AA impact
* 2014 Ontario fireball
* CNEOS 2014-01-08
* 2015 Kerala meteoroid
* 2015 Thailand bolide
* WT1190F impact
* 2017 China bolide
* 2018 LA impact
* 2018 Kamchatka meteor
* 2019 MO impact
* 2020 China bolide
* 2021 Winchcombe meteor
* 2022 EB5 impact
* 2022 WJ1 impact
* 2023 CX1 impact
* 2024 BX1 impact
* 2024 RW1 impact
* 2024 UQ impact
* 2024 XA1 impact

On Mars|

Impact events on Mars

On Jupiter|

* Impact events on Jupiter
* 1994 Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9
* 2009 Jupiter impact
* 2010 Jupiter impact
* 2016 Jupiter impact

Lists|

* Predicted asteroid impacts on Earth
* Asteroid close approaches to Earth
* Comets
* Bolides
* Meteor air bursts
* Meteorite falls
* Minor planets
* Asteroids crossing Earth's orbit

See also|

* Asteroid impact prediction
* Asteroid impact avoidance
* Bolide
* Earth-grazing fireball
* Meteor procession
* Meteor shower
* Meteorite
* Meteoroid
* Near-Earth object
* Potentially hazardous object

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