On Monday (Oct. 21) night time, a vibrant fireball might be seen streaking throughout the skies over Lake Erie within the U.S. and Canada.
Over 550 witness reviews of the meteor had been submitted to the American Meteor Society’s (AMS) “Report a Fireball” webpage; the item might be tracked transferring from northeast of Cleveland, Ohio, to only west of Erie, Pennsylvania. The occasion occurred round 7:00 p.m. EDT (2300 GMT) on Oct. 21. Accounts of the fireball got here from viewers as far east as Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and as far south as Madison, North Carolina — practically 400 miles (640 kilometers) away.
“The overwhelming color was mild inexperienced however there did look like yellow/golden sparks falling from it,” wrote Brian F. within the remarks of their report back to AMS from Ontario, Canada.
Fireballs falling towards Earth like this aren’t totally unusual, however are nonetheless uncommon occasions to witness. They’re often known as bolides and seem as vibrant streaks throughout the sky, explosively incinerating from the molten warmth of friction from slamming into Earth’s environment at interplanetary speeds.
Peter Brown, a meteor scientist and planetary astronomer at Western College, in Ontario, Canada, posted a video of the fireball on X, previously Twitter, captured by the college’s meteor community. “Vibrant fireball simply after sundown witnessed by many in S. Ontario and OH/PA. Meteor occurred totally over Lake Erie, ending close to 30 km altitude N. of Ashtabula, OH dropping meteorites into lake,” Brown mentioned in his submit.
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Vibrant fireball simply after sundown witnessed by many in S. Ontario and OH/PA. Meteor occurred totally over Lake Erie, ending close to 30 km altitude N. of Ashtabula, OH dropping meteorites into lake. Video from a number of @westernu meteor community caught the occasion in vibrant twilight. pic.twitter.com/v4DoVhiNetOctober 22, 2024
“I hear a bang from my proper and noticed the meteor breaking into inexperienced items, possibly 5 or extra,” mentioned Murray D. of their AMS report remarks.
Theirs was considered one of solely a small handful of reviews that included witnesses bodily listening to the phenomenon. Explosive “bangs” or “booms,” often known as “air bursts,” typically accompany these fiery reentries, as exterior temperatures and pressures on the descending area rocks result in explosive incineration.
“It was huge and low. For a pair seconds, I believed it was going to hit the Earth. It was large, nothing just like the informal meteor bathe which I’ve seen many occasions,” wrote Kammie J., within the remarks of their report back to AMS.
