More than 350 people report exceptionally bright fireball over U.S. Midwest and Canada
A very bright fireball was spotted across the skies of the Midwest at approximately 03:43 UTC on October 6, 2024 (22:43 local time on October 5), and reported by hundreds of eyewitnesses across 11 U.S. states and parts of Canada. The event was analyzed to have originated from a piece of a Jupiter family comet.
Fireball over North Royalton, U.S. Image credit: Ryan Connor
A bright fireball streaked across the skies of the U.S. Midwest at approximately 03:43 UTC on October 6 (22:43 local time on October 5).
Hundreds of eyewitnesses across 11 U.S. states — including Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin — as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, reported seeing the event.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 352 reports from witnesses across both the Midwest and Canada. The fireball was also captured by several cameras from the NASA Fireball Network and the Southern Ontario Meteor Network.
Analysis of the data by NASA Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) revealed that the meteor first became visible at an altitude of 97 km (60 miles) above Lake Erie, near Kelleys Island. Descending at a 30-degree angle from the horizontal, it moved southeast at a speed of about 112 000 km/h (70 000 mph).
The meteor traveled a distance of 116 km (72 miles) through the upper atmosphere before disintegrating at an altitude of 39 km (24 miles) above the town of Mohicanville, Ohio.
The orbit and light curve analysis suggest that the fireball was created by a fragment from a Jupiter family comet, measuring approximately 28 cm (11 inches) in diameter and weighing 30 kg (66 lbs).
This meteor was not associated with any currently active meteor shower.
References:
1 Event 5722-2024 – AMS – Accessed on October 7, 2024
I am an Assistant Editor and Severe Weather & Science Journalist at The Watchers, specializing in real-time severe weather coverage, geophysical event reporting, and research-driven scientific analysis. You can reach me at rishav(at)watchers(.)news.
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