A meteor in Wisconsin was seen streaking across the sky from west to east about 10 p.m. Wednesday. Those who witnessed the occasion overwhelmed emergency response phone lines, reporting 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, throwing meteorites to the ground, which began a couple of forest fires. Those who saw it reported a window-rattling sonic boom.
Meteor in Wisconsin data wanted
If you had the opportunity to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization would like to hear from you. This Info with some precision about where the meteor in Wisconsin landed is a big pay day for The International Meteor Organization for helping scientists find any possible meteorites. Any info 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. Entering the atmosphere causes friction to turn it into a brightly colored ball that was captured on film. If pieces of the meteor in Wisconsin actually did reach the Earth’s surface, they officially became “meteorites.” As of February 2010, about 1,086 meteorites are found after witnesses reported them as meteors. Over 38,000 meteorites have been found. Meteorites were found on the moon by Apollo astronauts also.
Was the meteor in Wisconsin turned into a meteorite?
Although bigger than most meteors, the meteor in Wisconsin wasn't unique. The American Meteor Society Fireball Sightings Log: 2010 shows almost daily reports of meteor sightings 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 punched a large hole within the rooftop and tore 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. He won't need a loan to fix it given that damage was light.
A meteor in Wisconsin 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 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 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 famous Life magazine image of her showing her injury.
Wisconsin meteor not the first
The meteor in Wisconsin isn’t really 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. They believe a 650- to 700-foot meteorite crashed into 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, 3 scientists suggested in an article published within 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 online websites known. About a couple dozen are in the U.S. Scientists estimate they occur every few hundred thousand years, and only a couple dozen in the United State! s. It is believed they only happen each few hundred thousand 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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