Mike's Astro Photos

About

Mike Hankey is a self taught software developer, entrepreneur, business owner, visionary, inventor, musician, astronomer, meteorite hunter/collector, farm owner/operator, writer and published author. Mike started his own software development business from his apartment in 1998 when he was just 26 years old, has grown and continued to operate the business for over 16 years. He has employed over 25 Maryland residents in that time and currently employees 10 people who operate out of his corporate office in Timonium MD.

In 2009, Mike started a hobby in astronomy and astrophotography and within 6 months, he took a world-record photograph of a super-bolide meteor that entered the atmosphere over Baltimore City MD. The photograph and Mike’s efforts to recover meteorites from the event led to international notoriety for Mike in the field of Astronomy and meteor science. Mike followed his passion for space and science and volunteered his time to the American Meteor Society by contributing his software development skills and the resources of his company to build a fireball tracking system to cover major meteor events that occur in the United States and Canada. In 2011, on the 100th anniversary of the society, Mike was given the society’s annual award. In 2012, Mike was promoted to the role of Operations Manager for the society. The system Mike built for the American Meteor Society is used by NASA, The USAF, The US Coast Guard, local law enforcement and emergency rescue services, meteor scientists world wide and over 50,000 witnesses of major fireball meteor events.

Since Mike and his company created the website in 2010 over 1.3 million people have visited the site. Mike has worked personally with federal employees inside the NASA JPL, NASA SETI and NASA Meteor Environment Office as well as representatives from the European Space Agency, The Paris Observatory, Societatea Astronomică Română de Meteori, Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Meteor Physics Group At University of Western Ontario and the International Meteor Organization.

In 2013 following the Russian Meteor Event that blew out windows in the city of Chelyabinsk and sent 1000 people to the hospital, Mike’s AMS website and fireball tracking tool took center stage in the world news as significant fireball meteor events continued to rain down on the United States and the globe. Mike has appeared on national broadcasts of NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC World News with Diane Sawyer and National Public Radio. He has also been featured on dozens of local radio and news programs. Mike’s work has been published in Sky and Telescope Magazine, The Journal of Science, msnbc.com, space.com, foxnews.com, The Huffington Post, Scientific American, The New Scientist Magazine, Discovery Science Magazine and 1000s of news paper articles world wide. Mike’s telescope resides in a mountain top observatory in northern California and he operates it remotely from his home in Monkton Maryland.

Here are a few of the articles and news stories that have featured Mike and his work over the last 5 years.

CBC – Radio Interview – September 2017 – BC Fireball (Meteorites later found) (interview stars at 8:30 minute mark)

 Journal of Planetary and Space Science – September 2017 – Published Paper – AMS NEXRAD

Capital Gazette – News Article / Video – June 2017 – Broadneck Residents: You might want to check for meteorites 

Washington Post – News Article – June 2017 – Broadneck Fireball

Weather Channel – Live TV – February 2017 – Science Behind Tracking Meteors

WJR Talk Radio – Radio Interview – February 2017 – Lake Michigan Fireball

New York Times – News Article – March 2016 – How an Amateur Meteorite Hunter Tracked Down a Fireball

Space.com – News Article – February 2016 – Meteorite Hunters Find 6 Space Rocks from Florida Fireball

New York Times – News Article – February 2016 – Goodness Gracious, Fireballs in February 

#1 Link on Reddit – December 9th, 2015 – Eagle with Fish Photo 

Discovery Magazine – January 2015 – #1 Citizen Science Project 2014 

WFMJ NBC – Local News – November 2014 – Buffalo Fireball

Washington Post – News Story – November 2014 – Buffalo Fireball

Weather Channel – National News Broadcast – November 2014 East Coast Fireball

NBCNews.com – News Story – May 2014 – Toronto Fireball

Toronto CityNews – Local News Broadcast – May 2014 – Toronto Fireball

Discovery Science Magazine – Magazine Article – April 2014 – AMS Mobile Application

Sky and Telescope Magazine – News Story – Dec 2014 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower

ABC Nightly News With Diane Sawyer – National TV News Broadcast – Dec
2013 – Midwest Fireball

Reddit.com #1 link for day and week – Largest Social Media Site on the Web – Dec 2013 – Horse Head Nebula

Fox News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

Scientific American – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

NBC News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

NBC News – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

Huffington Post – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

NPR Nov – News Story – 2013 – Comet ISON

Space.com – News Story – Nov 2013 – Comet ISON

LA Times – News Story – Nov 2013 – LA Fireball

Reddit.com #1 link for day – Largest Social Media Site on the Web – Sept 2013 – Bubble Nebula

Meteorite Magazine – First Ever Magazine Article Written by Mike –
July 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor

KGO 80 ABC Radio San Francisco – Radio Interview – May 2013 – San Fransisco Fireball

Fast Company – News Story – March 2013 – AMS Fireball Program

Space.com – News Story – March 2013 – East Coast Fireball

NBC News – National TV News Broadcast – March 2013 – East Coast Fireball

NPR / APM – 30 minute radio interview – March 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor & Mason Dixon Meteor

NBC Miami – Local TV Broad Cast – March 2013 – Miami Meteor

Fox 45 Baltimore – Local TV Broad Cast – Feb 2013 – Chelyabinsk Meteor

Sky and Telescope – News Story – Dec 2012 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower

The Journal of Science – Published Contributor – Dec 2012 – Sutters Mill Meteorite

NBC News – News Story – Nov 2012 – Leonids Meteor Shower

Boston Globe – News Story – Aug 2012 – New England Fireball

Sky And Telescope – News Story – Dec 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Sky And Telescope – News Story – Dec 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Sky And Telescope – News Story – Jan 7 2011 – Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Sky And Telescope – News Story – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor

Baltimore Sun – Front Page News Story – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor

WJZ CBS Baltimore – Local News TV Broadcast – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor

ABC News 2 York PA – Local News TV Broadcast – July 2009 – Mason Dixon Meteor

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