Fireball Streaks Through Night Sky of Western Alabama (Video)

March 23, 2010
Fireball Streaks Through Night Sky of Western Alabama

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Vigilant sky watchers were treated to a fiery surprise in western Alabama sky on Friday, March 19.

Allsky meteor cameras at the Marshall Center and near Chickamauga, Ga., recorded a fireball streaking across the sky around 11:19 p.m. CDT.

Moving at a speed of 42,500 mph -- or 12 miles per second -- the meteor burned up approximately 20 miles up in the . Although very bright, the meteor was deemed not large enough to produce meteorites.

Mid-March is typically a lull period for meteor shower activity, but several bright fireballs have recently been spotted over California, and now Alabama.

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Provided by JPL/NASA (news : web)

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yyz
Mar 24, 2010

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I wonder what the estimated visual magnitude was? Sure looks brighter than Venus, and that's around -4 mag.
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