The American Meteor Society has
received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen over the northeastern United States slightly before 8.10 am GMT on 2 December 2017. People have reported seeing the event from New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Ohio, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Washington DC, with the majority of sightings coming from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. A fireball
is defined
as a meteor
(shooting star) brighter than the
planet Venus. These are typically caused by pieces of rock burning up in
the atmosphere, but can be the result of man-made space-junk burning up
on re-entry.
The 2 December 2017 Pennsylvania fireball seen from Fredericksburg, Virginia. W Gast/American Meteor Society.
The object was seen moving from northeast to southwest over the eastern part of the state, with some witnesses reporting a blue green colouration, which may indicate that the body had a high magnesium content.
Map
showing areas where sightings of the meteor were reported, and the
route of the object (blue arrow). American Meteor Society.
Objects
of this size probably enter the Earth's atmosphere several times a
year, though unless they do so over populated areas they are unlikely to
be noticed. They are officially described as fireballs if they produce a
light brighter than the planet Venus. It is possible, though unlikely,
that this object will have produced meteorites that reached the surface
(an object visible in the sky is a meteor, a rock that falls from the
sky and can be physically held and examined is a meteorite), though most
meteorites come from larger objects that penetrate further into the
atmosphere before exploding, and therefore have a better chance of
producing fragments that reach the surface.
See also...
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