A meteor in Wisconsin was seen streaking across the sky from west to east about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Anyone who saw it instantly overwhelmed the emergency response phone lines saying they saw a blue/yellow fireball tracking from northwest to southeast. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service said the meteor exploded over Iowa County in southwest Wisconsin at about 24,000 feet, showering meteorites, starting some forest fires. Witnesses reported a window-rattling sonic boom.
Wisconsin meteor data wanted
If you happened to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization would like to hear from you. Information about where the meteor in Wisconsin might have landed is a pay day for The International Meteor Organization to help scientists find any possible meteorites. Info about trajectory helps scientists track the orbit of the meteor in Wisconsin to possibly link it to comets or asteroids.
The video recording the meteor in Wisconsin
The meteor was a natural object that originate in space. When it entered the atmosphere, friction caused it to superheat into a brightly glowing fireball captured on video. Those pieces of the meteor in Wisconsin that actually hit the Earth will now be called "meteorites." After being reported by witnesses as meteors, about 1,086 meteorites are found as of February 2010. Over 38,000 meteorites are found. Apollo astronauts also reported having found meteorites on the moon.
Did meteor in Wisconsin become a meteorite?
The meteor in Wisconsin, although bigger and more spectacular than most meteors, is not exactly unique. The American Meteor Society Fireball Sightings Log: 2010 shows nearly daily reports of meteor sightings from around the country. However, meteorite discoveries are rare. On Jan. 22, 2010, a meteorite struck Dr. Frank Ciampi's office building in Lorton, VA. The meteorite punched a hole in the roof and ripped up the floor about 10 feet from where Ciampi was working. Fragments of meteor rock the size of tennis balls were strewn around the room. Damage was light, and he probably doesn’t need a loan to fix it.
Unlikely for meteor in Wisconsin
According to astronomer Alan Harris on wikianswers.com, the chances of being killed by a meteorite in any person’s lifetime are about the same as Bill Gates needing a payday installment loans: 1 in 700,000.” As a comparison,” he said, “you’re more likely to die in a fireworks accident; But what’s funny is, this is a slightly higher chance than being killed by a terrorist!” The last impact on a human was in 1954, when Elaine Hodges of Sylacauga, Ala., was struck in the hip while napping on her couch. There is a famous picture in Life magazine of her showing the image.
Meteor in Wisconsin not the first
The meteor in Wisconsin is not the first fireball to have an impact on the state. Reported by Space.com, scientists, years ago saw something different about rocks around Wavery, Wis., and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred. It is believed that a 650 to 700 foot meteorite hit the earth at speeds up to 67,500 mph. The alleged impact 450 million years ago let out more than 1,000 megatons of explosive energy, blasting a giant hole in a 4-mile area called Rock Elm about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, said 3 scientists in an article published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Over time, shale, dirt and sediment filled the hole. The impact was blunted by a shallow sea covering Wisconsin at the time. Within the world, you will find around 200 meteorite impact websites known. About a couple dozen are in the U.S. Scientists estimate they occur each few hundred thousand years, and only a couple dozen within the United States. It is believed by many to only ! occur each few hundred years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKrd2NrnHk
Resources for the article
National Weather Service
The American Meteor Society
wikianswers.com
Space.com
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