scaremongering with comets and fireballs

[leader of the starry skys]

so after following the messages about ison for a yr now saying its going to be the bestest ever show and some people saying its gonna hit mars , then itll miss mars but hit earth and now realisation that it might be a good show if were lucky, now theres lots of reports of fireballs around the world ,  what do people think here, are we seeing more than usual , and when people are saying fireball , Is it just normal meteors or big ones ,

[Steve Ward]

Never believe the hyperbole . . . 

[Bizibilder]

Hello and welcome - Ison is a comet and may well put on a "show" by being visible with the naked eye.  Fireballs and meteors are really just dust burning up in the atmosphere - they can look pretty spectacular flashing across the sky!

[m37]

Hi and welcome. Would certainly be a heck of a sight. Have you seen Melancholia?!!!

[leader of the starry skys]

yep strange and a bit slow, but I liked it , not sure if id like to see end of the world that close, I don't think its going to happen,  just watched a few sites on youtube and sometimes it does make you  wander , like there has been more reported fireballs this year it seems,  why aren't we getting more information from nasa and that about ison ,    BEFORE PEOPLE SAY DONT BELIEVE THE HYPE ON YOUTUBE AND THAT , I don't , but its like there has got to be other life out there, there will be a big hit in the future from a meteor, I was just putting it out there see what people thought about the fireballs sightings

[Cath]

More people looking up = more fire ball (meteors and/or space debris) sightings, that's all it is, nothing to be scared of.

Yes one day we are going to get that hit nobody wants, but the chances are you'll be looooong gone before that happens. Our stay here is only a very temporary one - at best,

So best not to spend your life worrying about it.

After all, if you're going to be our leader, then maybe it's best to be a shining example of positive thinking too the rest of us

[leader of the starry skys]

not worrying at all ,

[Steve Ward]

Sorry , I didn't mean don't believe the stuff on YouTube but more the way the media hypes up potential Comets , Meteor showers , supernovae etc.

They always seem to quote the maximum hourly rates for meteors for example , they rarely live up to this and leave people a little disappointed , and I remember the Beeb going overboard about a supernova in M101 last year , stating that Joe Public could see it with a small binocular , it was as much as I could do to make it out with a 200P via imaging .... 

As for ISON , claiming it to be the comet of the decade was a bit overegging it a bit as it's never been here before , and hasn't rounded the Sun yet , it may end up being a spectacular naked eye specimen or it could well just fade away .... time will tell ... 

[leader of the starry skys]

no worries steve , I didn't mean that directly at you saying about ( before people say don't believe the hype on you tube) , I was just preparing for some answers that probably might have followed,....... yes at first when they said comet of century can be seen during day , 4times brighter than the moon, it was wow told all me mates, bought a telescope for this reason ( even though ive wanted one all my life so I did gain something good out of it ). and now well we shall have to wait and see, ....... and im not taken in by youtubers claiming this and that , i find some of them funny , so overboard

[ronl]

Let's wait and see, hopefully it will be naked eye, as for hype 

the media try to make things better than they are, hopping it

will fail miserably, then they can say how wrong the experts 

are.

[Pete Presland]

the phenomena is the same, the type of media that reports is not. everything is blown out of proportion!

[Pig]

Mass media is all about hyping it up -  They should change ISON's name to England FC and then it will miss everything   

[Kropster]

Only read the information from the guys who study this stuff scientifically... NASA etc.... too many flakey people start pronouncing without having any knowledge, just to make the headlines or get attention.

[nerointegrale16v]

there are many avid astonomers(professional/amateur) worldwide who are turning their scope to ISON, Kropster's correct only listen to the genuine sources,

from Bruce Gary's website (100% trustworthy)

Oct 06, 00.0 UT: Note: Someone is taking images from this web page, altering them, posting them on their web site (YouTube) and then claiming that I see a UFO in front of the comet. Anybody doing this must be out of work, and is trying out a money-making scam that involves scaring people. Don't believe anything you read about this comet that is scary. There's absolutely nothing to fear from this tiny comet.

all the talk of nibiru and ufo's is just total nonsense, just look at the other videos that these people post on youtube in their profile and i bet you it includes the like of alien abuctions, 9/11 did not happen, we did not land on the moon, US goverment planning something, HAARP. etc

remember hale-bopp and the sad story of heaven's gate doomsday cult. history is littered with crazy reactions to the visiting comets

martin

[gkec]

I find the Yahoo comet group good for up to date comet info

http://www.yahoogroups.com/neo/groups/comets-ml/info

[symesie04]

As far as im aware there is absolutely no evidence that we are in a period of a unusually intense period of meteor/fireball activity. Think you have to look at it this way, the news media are prone to reporting things in fashion the same as the other types of media. Right now science / astronomy is in fashion and fireballs are spectacular events, this makes them good news stories both by broadcasting media and internet sites. Also add to that that every year more and more people are in possession of mobile recording devices (cameras/phones etc) and all of a sudden you have access to recorded images of the events to make your report. Oh and of course our devastating runaway world population also ensures many more events will continue to be seen. So despite the Internets best whacky stories we are not about to be exterminated by some alien species seeking resources, or become the staple food supply of a Triffid species and nor are we about to collide with Niburu which beyond all explanations is managing to hide inside the orbit of the Moon.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Anyone else remember a couple of yrs ago during a meteor shower that a photo of star trails was posted online on a news media website and they actually had it captioned as a meteor shower. 

As the band  U2 were once named (before becoming U2)...................Don't Believe The Hype.

[cosmological]

I don't believe there are more than usual, I just think they have become better at spotting them.

[Pig]

Im quite pleased with the fact it is going to be a poor show and that they don't come anywhere near us, the further away the better   I cant think of anything worse etc  blooming dangerous things