(ORDO NEWS) — The bright fireball was spotted by a 360 degree camera network in southern Ontario, USA at 06:37 UTC on Monday, April 18, 2022. Analysis of video data indicates that fragments of the meteor most likely hit the ground near the eastern shore of Lake Simcoe, north of the city of Argyll.
Western University’s Department of Physics and Astronomy operates a network of all-round cameras that constantly monitor the sky for meteors.
Meteor specialist Denis Vida confirmed that more than a dozen Southern Ontario Western Meteor Network (SOMN) all-round cameras captured the event north of Toronto early Monday morning, as well as a number of cameras operated by scientists from the Global Meteor Network (GMN) .
“This fireball was quite large, moved slowly, was in an asteroid orbit, and died out very low in the atmosphere. These are very good indications that the meteor survived,” says Vida, an astronomy doctor.
In fact, the fireball was still emitting light at an altitude of 29 km. Another factor that favors the survival of meteorites is the very steep angle of incidence (about 30 degrees from vertical).
“Taken together, these factors suggest that many small meteorites may have made it to earth,” Vida says.
This event is no less significant, since the Western University Meteorite Research Group has high-quality video data of its passage through the atmosphere, which allows us to calculate the origin of the stone in our solar system. Preliminary results show that the fireball first became visible at an altitude of 90 km and was moving almost to the north.
“It is assumed that the initial mass was about 10 kilograms, and we expect that there will be tens or hundreds of grams of material on the ground,” says Vida. “Meteorites are of great interest to researchers because their study helps us understand the formation and evolution of the solar system,” says Vida.
Meteorites can be recognized by their dark, often jagged appearance. They are usually denser than “regular” stones and are often magnetically attracted due to their metal content.
Meteorites are not dangerous, but if they are found, it is best to place them in a clean plastic bag or wrap them in aluminum foil. In addition, they should be “handled” as little as possible in order to preserve their scientific value. In Canada, for example, meteorites belong to the owner of the land where they were found.
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