A meteor swept through the night sky over Vermont on Sunday (March 7), creating a spectacular light show and causing earth-shattering trees as it burned through the atmosphere.
The explosive passage of the meteor through the atmosphere released the equivalent of 200 kilograms of TNT, indicating that the meteor was probably 4.5 kg and 15 centimeters in diameter, according to NASA Meteor Watch.
According to NASA, the space rock hit about 68,000 km / h in the atmosphere. It appears over the northern part of the state as a bright fireball at 17:38 EST, just before sunset.
Local news station WCAX3 reported calls from across the country after the event, with Vermonters describing a ‘loud surge and body-grinding vibration’ as the meteor moved overhead.
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“I was happy to hear and see it before sunset at the Missisquoi River at the Missisquoi Wildlife Refuge in Swanton, VT,” wrote Chris Hrotic, commenting on NASA’s initial report on the event. “No loud surge as reported by others, but a stormy sound that made me look up at the right moment. It was extraordinarily bright and absolutely spectacular!”
Based on eyewitness reports, NASA estimates that the fireball first appeared 84 km (84 km) across Mount Mansfield State Forest just east of Burlington, the state’s largest city. It then advanced 53 km northeast toward the Canadian border and disappeared 53 km above the ground south of the city of Newport.
According to NASA, the shock wave was the result of the meteor rupture due to atmospheric pressure. As the bowling ball size of a larger parent asteroid moves almost 55 times the speed of sound through the atmosphere, pressure builds up in front of it and forms a vacuum behind it. Eventually, the voltage of the differential caused the rock to explode.
In comments on NASA’s initial Facebook message about the incident, people claim to have seen the rock from as far west as Saratoga, New York, as far north as Quebec and as far east as Watertown, Massachusetts.
Originally published on Live Science.