Current Event: Fireball

Comet Fire Ball

Paul Walsh

Astromart

Kyle C.

6/3/2011

On May 20^th, around 10:47 pm, something luminous passed across the southern sky in the residents of Atlanta, Georgia. A highly luminous and intensely hot fireball generated by nuclear explosion was about to land across the ground. Many dwellers around the region mentioned that it was so bright that they couldn’t even approach near it. As said that, when the NASA researched team checked using NASA fireball camera (in the Tellus Science Museum in Cartersville, GA), they could record the moment. When they discovered some fragments, which flew away from the bright exploding core, NASA's Meteoroid Environment officer lead Bill Cooke responded to this matter saying "It appears to have been a disintegrating piece of comet." Using the data given, Cooke was able to triangulate the fireball’s path. He had discovered that the icy, fragile object was about 2 meters wide; this had hit the atmosphere at a velocity of 86,000mph. Also the chunk of comet broke into several fragments; Cooke and others are analyzing each fragment to learn more about the “parent body,” and how these might have reached the floor. To add on, observers reported the bright blue/green flashes, distinct fireball shadows, and luminous sparkles to give more clues about the discovery. Cooke and other researchers weren’t able to find the identity of this however they knew that this was the brightest event they’ve seen in the three year history of the meteor network.

The diagram of the location.

Bibliography:

Paul Walsh. "COMET FIREBALL." Astromart. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 June 2011.
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