Around 10 pm Wednesday evening, a meteor in Wisconsin was seen going across the sky from west to east. Anybody who saw it right away 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, beginning some forest fires. Those who saw it reported a window-rattling sonic boom.
Meteor in Wisconsin data wanted
If you had the possibility to see the meteor in Wisconsin, the International Meteor Organization would like to hear from you. This Data with some precision about where the meteor in Wisconsin landed is a large pay day for The International Meteor Organization for helping scientists find any possible meteorites. Information about its trajectory also helps scientists track the orbit of the meteor in Wisconsin to possibly link it to asteroids or comets.
Video of Meteor in Wisconsin
A natural object that originated in space is just what they’re calling the meteor in Wisconsin. Friction caused it to superheat into a brightly glowing fireball captured on video after it entered the atmosphere. Any pieces of the meteor that really hit the Earth could be called "meteorites." After being reported by witnesses as meteors, about 1,086 meteorites have been found as of February 2010. Well over 38,000 meteorites have been found. Apollo astronauts also found meteorites on the moon.
Was the meteor in Wisconsin turned into a meteorite?
The meteor in Wisconsin, although bigger and more spectacular than most meteors, isn’t really exactly unique. The American Meteor Society Fireball Sightings Log: 2010 shows nearly daily reports of numerous meteor sightings from all around the country. However, meteorite discoveries are rare. On Jan. 22, 2010, a meteorite struck the office building belonging to Dr. Frank Ciampi in Lorton, VA. The meteorite punched a hole within the roof and ripped up the floor about 10 feet from where Ciampi was working. Fragments of meteor about the size of a tennis ball were strewn about the room. Damage was light, and he probably doesn’t need a loan to fix it.
A meteor in Wisconsin was unlikely
According to astronomer Alan Harris on wikianswers.com, the chances of being killed by a meteorite in any person’s lifetime are about the very 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 on a human was in 1954, when Elaine Hodges of Sylacauga, Ala., was struck within the hip while napping on her couch. There is a Life magazine image of her showing the injury.
It wasn't the first meteor in Wisconsin
This wasn't first fireball to have an impact on Wisconsin. Scientists, years ago saw something different about rocks around Wavery, Wis., and concluded an ancient catastrophic event occurred reports Space.com. They believe that at 67,500 mph a 650 to 700 foot meteorite hit the earth. The impact 450 million years ago released a lot more than 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 said in an article published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin. Over a long time, dirt, shale, and sediment filled the hole. A shallow sea covering Wisconsin at the time blunted the impact. Worldwide, there are about 200 known meteorite impact sites. Only a couple dozen are in the US. Scientists suggest that they only happen every few hundred thousand years and only a couple dozen in the USA. It is believed they only happen each and every few hundred thousand years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfKrd2NrnHk
Article Resources
National Weather Service
The American Meteor Society
wikianswers.com
Space.com
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