A meteor falling near Russia's Ural mountains has injured at least 950 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

Most of those hurt, in the Chelyabinsk region where meteorites fell, suffered cuts and bruises but at least 46 remain in hospital.

A fireball streaked through the clear morning sky, followed by loud bangs.

A large meteorite fragment landed in a lake near Chebarkul, a town in Chelyabinsk region.

The meteor's dramatic passing was witnessed in Yekaterinburg, 200km (125 miles) to the north, and in Kazakhstan, to the south.

The BBC report that a large fragment of meteorite landed to the west of the city of Chelyabinsk just outside the town of Chebarkul. Chebarkul is 78 kilometers (48 mi) west of Chelyabinsk. It is reported that the meteorite landed in a lake 1km outside Chebarkul, which has a population of 46,000. Russian reports indicate other fragments may have landed in other locations across the region.
According to eye witness accounts the meteor fell 09:20 local time (03:20 GMT).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21468116

I have located the charts below the city of Chelyabinsk. It is the major population centre in the region, the fireball passed overhead the city and there may be other fragments of the meteorite across the region still undiscovered.

Its a high latitude so I display the chart in two house systems. First whole sign and second Alcabitius.
Note the Mars-Saturn trine. Saturn is also very slow and about to go stationary-retrograde. Both Saturn and the Moon are received by Mars. Jupiter, the MC ruler is on the degree of the last Lunar eclipse on November 28th 2012. The nodes are transiting the degree of the last Solar eclipse which occurred at 21 Scorpio.

Mark

Mark

The time is being given as 9.15 am due to a local news report announcing it at this time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Russian_meteor_shower

Paul wrote:

The time is being given as 9.15 am due to a local news report announcing it at this time

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Russian_meteor_shower

Typical wikipedia sloppyness! The two online sources it cites for timing (USA Today and Mercury News) both give a time of around 9.20am not 9.15am! Combined with the BBC stating 09.20am I think we should go with that unless we find any authentic Russian sources stating something earlier.

Mark

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/arti ... 75623.html

Moscow Times is also citing a time of 9.20am

Mark

I found the meteor exploding interesting with the stationary Saturn. Not far off the Heart of Scorpio at 15 SC, considering.

And isn't it Bonatus who says something about meteorites and apparations in the sky as Saturn changes signs? A stationary Saturn might be considered to have something of the same magnitude.

Andrew

Andrew Bevan wrote:

And isn't it Bonatus who says something about meteorites and apparations in the sky as Saturn changes signs? A stationary Saturn might be considered to have something of the same magnitude.

Your comment intrigued me so I decided to check out the astrology of the Tunguska event in 1908. This was a much more powerful impact in Russia and the largest impact event in recent history.

From an online source:

The Tunguska event, sometimes called the Tunguska explosion, was a massive explosion that occurred near the Podkamennaya (Under Rock) Tunguska River in what is now Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia, at 00:14 UT on June 30, 1908.

The explosion was most likely caused by the air burst of a large meteoroid or comet fragment at an altitude of 5 to 10 kilometers (3?6 mi) above Earth's surface. Different studies yielded varying estimates for the meteor's size, including 60 meters, 90 to 190 meters and up to 1200 meters in diameter.

Although the meteor or comet is considered to have burst prior to hitting the surface, this event is still referred to as an impact event. The energy of the blast was estimated to be between 10 and 20 megatons of TNT ? 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The explosion felled an estimated 80 million trees over 2,150 square kilometers (830 sq mi). It is estimated to have measured 5.0 on the Richter scale.

The Tunguska event is the largest impact event in recent history. An explosion of this magnitude had the potential to devastate large metropolitan areas had it occurred over a large city. This possibility has helped to spark discussion of ways to potentially stop large asteroids or comets from hitting Earth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunguska_event
Bonatti's theory isn't supported by this event. Saturn is not changing sign or about to go retrograde for another 3 weeks after the event. Its an interesting chart nonetheless with the massive stellium in Cancer and the opposition from Uranus in Capricorn. Uranus disposited by Saturn in its sign of fall in Aries. The only connection I see to the incident in the Urals is that Saturn and Uranus are in the signs associated with Mars. In the case of Capricorn its sign of exaltation. In both instances Mars is occidental of the Sun and in a water sign. In the Tunguska chart both malefics are in their sign of fall.

Here is the chart for the impact event in Siberia. I have used equal houses due to the high latitude.
Mark

Interesting chart, Mark. I note that there recently was a solar eclipse. The luminaries are figuring with the infortunes. And 19 Leo is rising on the ascendant. The recently eclipsed Sun rules the ascendant. Do you remember how we found this degree, being the base of the exaltation degree of the Sun by trine, to be featured in some giga-sized earthquakes?

I am pressed for time this weekend, so I can't check up the Bonatus quote - but I had no reason to know whether it held truth or not. Saturn in the chart you put up Mark is 10 degrees Aries - another Mars ruled sign. Fairly similar degree - but doesn't necessarily have to mean anything.

Mark wrote: Note the Mars-Saturn trine. Saturn is also very slow and about to go stationary-retrograde. Both Saturn and the Moon are received by Mars. Jupiter, the MC ruler is on the degree of the last Lunar eclipse on November 28th 2012. The nodes are transiting the degree of the last Solar eclipse which occurred at 21 Scorpio.
Mark

those are good observations mark. here are a few more. pluto is at the midpoint of the mars/saturn trine.. saturn is exactly 135 the sun/moon midpoint as well.. the moon is slightly past a 135 to mars. those 2 planets in a trine - mars and saturn certainly capture an important part of the astro..

here are some of the distinguishing features of the heliocentric chart for the same time/date/place...
mars-saturn 135. jupiter opposite midheaven - 1 minute from exact. pluto 45 ascendant 9 minutes short of exact.

Some striking You Tube footage of the Meteor:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90Omh7_I8vI

Mark

Should we be forming some sort of prediction on this unusual apparition? How do we interpret it, or what does it mean? Or do we correlate it to some unforseen event like the abdication of the Pope? It would have been more meaningful if lightening had struck St. Peter's Church and the meteorite arrived prior to the adbication, rather than the gods reacting in hindsight...

This site might be of interest as it lists historical sightings of fireballs:

http://www.fireballhistory.com/default.html

As the site points out in past times comets, and meteors were often linked together before their different astronomical basis was understood.

My favourite historical story connected to fireballs or meteors from that site refers to the Emperor Charlemagne when a meteor fell in Saxony while he was campaigning against the Danish King Godefrid.

810- Einhard, in his Vita Caroli writes about a bright fireball that was seen during the emperor Charlemagne's campaign into Saxony. Shortly before sunrise the army set out on the days march. The Emperor was riding along on his horse near the front of his army when the fireball struck. Einhard says that "Charlemagne saw a meteor flash down from the heavens and pass along the clear sky from right to left with a great blaze of light."

This must have caused quite a fright for his horse for it lowered its head and fell. This caused Charlemagne to tumble to the ground. The force of the fall was so violent that it broke the buckle on his cloak, and his sword and belt were torn off. At the time he was thrown he had been holding a javelin. This weapon was found more than 20 feet away. The Emperor in no way believed that this fireball was a bad omen. Although it would have shaken the resolve of many figures of his Era, he merely went on with business as usual.

Charlemagne did die a few years later in January 2014. After years of military successes and territorial expansion across Europe the Frankish campaign against the Danes failed to defeat them and instead led to a peace treaty recognising the southern border of the then pagan Denmark in 811.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_of_Heiligen

It was such an assumption in medieval thinking that comets accompanied the death of great Kings that one of the annalists simply fradulently recorded such an apparition prior to the death of Charlemagne in 1014. It was obviously not the done thing for such a great king to die without a suitable comet to mark the event.

If fireballs are anything like comets this may bode bad tidings for Putin...
More generally, prodigies such as meteors had associations in the medieval mind with events such as conquest. war, disease, and death

Mark