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(Image credit: Juliah Bandy) |
The flash was seen by hundreds of people.
Last night, a fireball rushed through North Texas, causing
several hundred witnesses to report a blinding flash and deafening boom.
According to CBS Dallas-Fort Worth, the cosmic drama
occurred at 9 p.m. local time on Sunday (July 25). The American Meteor Society
(AMS), a non-profit organisation, has since received 213 reports of the
fireball, including three videos. The majority of the witnesses were from
northern Texas, but some said they saw the explosion across Oklahoma, Missouri,
Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The fireball was captured on video as a big object streaked
across the sky for a few seconds. The majority of persons who saw the fireball
said it lasted between 3 and 4 seconds. The thing produced a sound as it flew
through the sky, according to 14 witnesses.
According to the American Meteor Society, a fireball is any
meteor that shines about as brightly as Venus in the evening sky. Fireballs
occur often over the world, as this NASA map indicates. According to NASA,
these objects can start off rather enormous, measuring more than 3 feet (1
metre) in diameter before being burned up by the atmosphere's friction. They
don't usually make it to the ground, though some larger fireballs may splinter
into shards that meteorite hunters can find. Bolides are the name for exploding
fireballs.
Many fireballs are now captured on video thanks to the widespread
use of doorbell cameras, mobile phones, and dash cams, such as the one that lit
up the sky above Tennessee this summer and a vivid green one that astonished
researchers onboard a ship in the Tasman Sea last October. A big meteor
exploded above Norway just a few hours before the fireball that dropped over
Texas.
A bolide large enough to be seen during the day sonic boomed
throughout England, Wales, and northern France in March. In February, a bolide
over England strewn bits of meteorite across a vast region, including one
family's driveway.
Each year, thousands of small meteorites strike the Earth,
the majority of which fall unnoticed into the ocean or unpopulated areas.
Thousands of more pieces of rock and space dust burn up completely in the
atmosphere, leaving only meteors behind. The next best chance to see meteors is
in August, when Earth passes through the Swift-Tuttle comet's remaining debris,
resulting in the annual Perseid meteor shower. These meteors are too small and
frail to reach Earth, but they produce a light show that can include up to 100
shooting stars each hour.
Originally published on Live Science
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