Fireball can be seen over several US states in broad daylight
A meteor exploded over the south-east of the USA last week and was observed in several states. Remnants also caused damage.
Image of the fireball from a house entrance
(Image: © David & Anita Roche)
A meteor could be seen over several US states in broad daylight last week, the remains of which probably even reached the earth and damaged a house in the US state of Georgia. ABC News reports this and publishes a whole series of images of the fireball, which were taken with dashcams and other devices. The American Meteor Society has received well over 200 reports of sightings from the US states of Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South, and North Carolina and Tennessee and has also published a series of images. The event was even visible from space, with the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) releasing a satellite image showing the flash of light.
Loud explosion over Georgia
(Image:Â NOAA)
According to consistent reports, the meteor burned up at noon local time on Thursday and finally exploded at an altitude of around 77 km. This was determined by the US space agency NASA, according to which the celestial body was previously around one meter in size and hurtled through the atmosphere at 13 km/s (around 47,000 km/h). The explosion released as much energy as 20 tons of TNT. Sonic booms were also heard on the ground. There have been various reports on social media that remains have been found, and many more could still be awaiting discovery.
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In at least one case, there are also reports of damage caused by a remnant of the meteor. According to the US weather service, a house roof in Henry County, Georgia, was punctured. The object responsible for this made it through another ceiling until it damaged the laminate on the floor and remained there. No one was apparently injured. To accompany the announcement on Facebook, the authorities published photos of the damage, showing, among other things, the small holes in the roof and ceiling as well as the fragments on the floor.
Robert Lunsford from the American Meteor Association told Space.com that the fireball was associated with the Beta Taurid meteor stream. This always hits the Earth in June and July, peaking at the end of June. According to the expert, the meteor stream is even partly associated with the Tunguska event. This is the name given to a gigantic explosion in Siberia in which trees were blown down over a huge area in Siberia on June 30, 1908. However, it is still not clear what exactly happened there; there are no reliable reports due to the sparse population of the area.
(mho)
