Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A massive meteor weighing nearly seven tons lit up the skies over the U.S. Midwest on Tuesday morning, exploding high above Ohio with an energy release equivalent to 250 tons of TNT, according to Nasa.
The dramatic event startled residents across several states, many of whom reported hearing a loud boom and feeling ground tremors.
The space rock, estimated to be about six feet in diameter, entered Earth’s atmosphere at an astonishing speed of nearly 45,000 miles per hour.
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It ultimately disintegrated in a brilliant mid-air explosion roughly 30 miles above Medina County, Ohio. The intense fragmentation produced a bright fireball visible across at least 10 states, as well as Washington, DC, and parts of Ontario, Canada.
Eyewitnesses described the spectacle as a blazing streak of light cutting across the sky shortly before 9 a.m. Eastern Time. Reports quickly flooded in from Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, where several residents also heard a powerful sonic boom.
Some initially mistook the sound for an explosion or earthquake. One Ohio resident told local media that the shockwave was strong enough to shake their entire house.
Nasa explained that the loud boom resulted from the meteor breaking apart in the atmosphere, generating a pressure wave that travelled down to the ground. Despite the dramatic nature of the event, experts say such explosions, known as bolide, are not uncommon, though they rarely occur over populated areas.
The National Weather Service (NWS) confirmed the object as a meteor and noted that it was detected using a geostationary lightning mapper, an instrument typically used to track lightning activity.
The device identified a rapid atmospheric flash, similar to lightning, over the Cleveland area, capturing a distinctive green burst associated with the meteor’s breakup.
Nasa officials indicated that fragments of the meteor, known as meteorites, may have survived the explosion and reached the ground. These remnants could potentially be recovered in areas surrounding the explosion site, sparking interest among scientists and amateur meteorite hunters alike.
The event points to how Earth is constantly exposed to space debris, most of which burns harmlessly in the atmosphere. However, Tuesday’s fiery display stands out as one of the more powerful and widely witnessed meteor events in recent years.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
