Did you feel the meteor on Tuesday?!
If you heard a boom, felt a shaking, or saw a fireball in the sky on around 10:00 am to noon Tuesday, it may have been from a meteor! Meteors, also called shooting stars, are rocks that enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up from friction, creating a bright streak of light across the sky. In this case, NASA officials estimate the rock to be approximately one foot wide. The meteor entered the atmosphere above New York city at 38,000 miles per hour, traveling west above the Statue of Liberty and Liberty Science Center, before totally disintegrating above Union County.
Meteors like this pose essentially no danger to us. Due to their small size they burn up or fragment into much smaller pieces before making it to the surface of Earth. Tuesday’s meteor didn’t leave behind any meteorites—fragments of meteors that actually reach the ground. For this fireball to be visible during the day is rare. Meteors are much more often seen at night when fainter streaks of light stand out against the dark sky. If you want to see meteors in the night sky, the Perseid meteor shower will be most visible on the nights of August 11, 12, and 13!
The Jennifer Chalsty Planetarium is the region’s best place to learn what to look for in the night sky. Click here to see what's playing and get tickets now.
