90+ Amateur Cameras Are Tracking Every Fireball in Europe's Sky — You Can Build One for $150

Ze380y
Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:13:09 +0000

90+ Amateur Cameras Are Tracking Every Fireball in Europe’s Sky — You Can Build One for $150

a bunch of nerds with PoE cables and Sony sensors are doing NASA’s job for free and honestly? they’re kinda better at it

90+ stations across Europe. 5,000 meteors per station per year. 30 cameras catching a single fireball simultaneously. Total budget per unit: less than a PS5.

the AllSky7 Fireball Network is a volunteer-run, non-commercial constellation of all-sky cameras that records meteors 24/7/365 — calculating trajectories, orbits, and predicted landing zones. it started with one dude named Mike Hankey in 2018 and now it’s the densest fireball detection grid on the planet. no government funding. no billion-dollar satellite. just vibes and ethernet cables.

🧩 Dumb Mode Dictionary (click for more details) 📖 The Backstory — One Nerd, Seven Cameras, and a Dome (click for more details) ⚙️ Hardware Specs — What's Actually in the Dome (click for more details) 📊 The Numbers That Hit Different (click for more details) 🗣️ What the HN Crowd Said (click for more details) 🔍 Why This Matters Beyond Cool Factor (click for more details)

Cool. Space rocks are falling and volunteers are tracking them with security cameras. Now What the Hell Do We Do? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ

📡 1. Build a $150 Meteor Camera and Join a Global Network (click for more details) 💰 2. Sell Pre-Built Allsky Camera Kits on Etsy/Tindie (click for more details) 🎓 3. Create a 'Build Your Own Meteor Tracker' Course (click for more details) 📱 4. Build a Fireball Alert App Using Open Network Data (click for more details) 🛠️ Follow-Up Actions (click for more details)

Quick Hits

Want to… | Do this
Track meteors tonight | Build a $30 Pi Zero allsky cam with Meteotux Pi
Sell to space nerds | Pre-build and sell allsky kits for $300-500 on Tindie
Teach STEM skills | Create a “build a meteor tracker” course on YouTube/Udemy
Build an app | Use NASA/AllSky7 open fireball data for push alert notifications
Do actual science | Join AllSky7 network — your footage could track a near-Earth object

90 nerds with ethernet cables and $150 cameras are doing more asteroid tracking than most space agencies. the universe doesn’t care about your budget — it just cares if you looked up.

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