Astrology

An asteroid fragment created a fireball over Tennessee, NASA says

A small asteroid fragment produced a fireball over southeastern Tennessee before breaking apart above East Ridge, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports, citing NASA. Residents across East Tennessee reported seeing a bright streak in the evening sky on Thursday.

NASA's analysis put the fragment at roughly 2 inches across and about 6 ounces. According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, four of the agency's all-sky cameras in the region captured it when it appeared at 7:45 p.m.

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The fragment crossed from North Carolina#

The object was first spotted 53 miles above Robbinsville, North Carolina, moving a little south of west at about 47,000 miles per hour, NASA told the Chattanooga Times Free Press. It disintegrated 25 miles above East Ridge, near Chattanooga, less than 10 seconds later.

The fireball traveled around 120 miles toward East Ridge, according to the New York Post. Local 3 News reported that people with clear skies could see the object as it moved toward Earth, and that all four regional NASA sky cameras captured it.

NASA's All Sky Fireball Network recorded the object from multiple directions using black-and-white video cameras with fisheye lenses, the New York Post reports. The camera setup allowed the agency to calculate the fireball's height and speed.

NASA ruled out the Taurid shower#

Because of the timing, questions arose about a possible link between the fireball and the Taurid meteor shower, known for bright meteors and active for much of November. NASA said the object was not part of that shower, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

A meteor is the glowing streak made when a small body passes through Earth's atmosphere, according to Wikipedia. In this case, NASA identified the object as a fragment of an asteroid that burned up in the atmosphere, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports.

A separate fireball photographed over Italy's Dolomite Alps on November 14, 2017, had a measured track over Germany consistent with an origin near the active radiant of the Northern Taurid meteor shower, NASA Science says. The agency associates that shower with dust from Encke's comet.

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