Become an IMO Meteor Alerter!

Unlike other astronomical phenomena—such as solar or lunar eclipses, stellar and planetary occultations—meteor events are largely unpredictable. This doesn’t mean we don’t understand them at all, but rather that significant meteor activity or a very bright fireball can occur at any time and over any part of the Earth. And since we are human, our observations are limited by time and location.

In certain cases—such as unexpected meteor shower outbursts, daylight fireballs (which often go unrecorded by video stations and thus rely heavily on visual reports), or bright fireballs that may result in meteorite falls—we need to respond quickly and issue alerts as soon as possible.

To address this, the International Meteor Organization (IMO) is creating a Meteor Alerter Network, aimed at alerting the IMO editorial team as quickly as possible when a major meteor event occurs. This includes meteor shower outbursts, the discovery of Earth-impacting asteroids, or daylight/very bright fireballs. A group has been set up on the Telegram instant messaging app for this purpose.

If you are interested in joining us, please contact us at this email address and include your phone number so we can add you to the group.

Thank you in advance for your support!
—The IMO Website Editorial Team