A meteor in Wisconsin was seen streaking across the sky from west to east about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Witnesses overwhelmed emergency response phone lines, reporting to have seen a yellow/blue fireball swiftly 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 to the ground, which began some forest fires. Witnesses reported a window-rattling sonic boom.
Meteor in Wisconsin data wanted
If you happened to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization would like to hear from you. This Details with some precision about where the meteor in Wisconsin landed is a big pay day for The International Meteor Organization for helping scientists discover any possible meteorites. Any details given will help scientists track the orbit of the meteor and link it to either asteroids or comets.
Meteor in Wisconsin video
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. Any pieces of the meteor that actually hit the Earth can be called "meteorites." As of February 2010, about 1,086 meteorites have been found after witnesses reported them as meteors. Over 38,000 meteorites are found. Meteorites were found on the moon by Apollo astronauts as well.
Is the meteor from Wisconsin now a meteorite?
Although bigger than most meteors, the meteor in Wisconsin wasn't 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 the office building of Dr. Frank Ciampi in Lorton, VA. The meteorite put a hole in the roof and ripped up the floor 10 feet from where Ciampi was working. Strewn around the room were fragments of meteor about the size of tennis balls. Damage was fairly light meaning he won't need a loan to fix it.
Meteor in Wisconsin danger was unlikely
According to astronomer Alan Harris on wikianswers.com, the chances of getting hit by a meteorite in any person’s lifetime are the exact same as Bill Gates needing a no fax payday loans no credit check: 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 recorded on a human was in 1954, when Elaine Hodges of Sylacauga, Ala., was hit within the hip as she was napping on her couch. There is a Life magazine image of her showing the injury.
Meteor in Wisconsin not the first
This wasn't first fireball to have an impact on Wisconsin. Space.com reports that 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 impact, which was 450 million years ago, released at least 1,000 megatons of explosive energy, blasting a massive hole in a 4-mile area called Rock Elm about 70 miles east of Minneapolis, three scientists suggested in an article published within the Geological Society of The US Bulletin. Over a long time, dirt, shale, 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 sites known. The US only has a couple dozen of them. Scientists suggest that they only happen each few hundred thousand years and only a couple dozen in the USA. It is believed they only happen! each few hundred thousand years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKrd2NrnHk
Article Sources
National Weather Service
The American Meteor Society
wikianswers.com
Space.com
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