Wednesday 9 January 2019

Bright fireball meteor off the east coast of North America.

The American Meteor Society has received reports of a bright fireball meteor being seen off the east coast of the United States at about 6.35 am Eastern Standard Time (11.35 am GMT) on Wednesday 9 January 2019. The meteor was seen from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. 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. This object appeared to move northeast-to-southwest.

The 9 January 2019 American East Coast Meteor, seen from West New York in New Jersey. Jeremy Settle/News 12 New Jersey/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. The brightness of a meteor is caused by friction with the Earth's atmosphere, which is typically far greater than that caused by simple falling, due to the initial trajectory of the object. Such objects typically eventually explode in an airburst called by the friction, causing them to vanish as an luminous object. However this is not the end of the story as such explosions result in the production of a number of smaller objects, which fall to the ground under the influence of gravity (which does not cause the luminescence associated with friction-induced heating).
 
Map showing areas where sightings of the meteor were reported, and the route of the object (blue arrow). American Meteor Society.
 
These 'dark objects' do not continue along the path of the original bolide, but neither do they fall directly to the ground, but rather follow a course determined by the atmospheric currents (winds) through which the objects pass. Scientists are able to calculate potential trajectories for hypothetical dark objects derived from meteors using data from weather monitoring services.

Witness reports can help astronomers to understand these events. If you witness a fireball-type meteor over the US you can report it to the American Meteor Society here.   

See also...

http://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/01/fireball-meteor-over-bay-of-plenty-new.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2019/01/the-quadrantid-meteor-shower.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/12/fireball-over-northern-california.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-gemenid-meteor-shower.html
https://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/11/the-leonid-meteor-shower.htmlhttps://sciencythoughts.blogspot.com/2018/11/southern-taurids-to-peak-on-monday-5.html
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