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Video: Asteroids, Meteors, and Meteorites | Ready Jet Go! | Travel through the Asteroid belt with Jet and Mrs. Propulsion to learn more about asteroids, meteors, and meteorites!
Website: NASA Space Place Asteroid or Meteor: What's the difference? | Check in with the space experts. They can give you all of the details.
Read the script:
NOW IN SPACE NEWS, MICHIGANDERS GOT A GOOD GANDER LAST WEEK, AS A FIREBALL FLEW THROUGH THEIR SKY.
NASA CONFIRMED THAT A METEOR DID INDEED STREAK THROUGH THE MICHIGAN ATMOSPHERE, TRAVELING AT ABOUT 36,000 MILES PER HOUR. THAT’S MORE THAN TWICE AS FAST AS A SPACE SHUTTLE!
SO - CHECK OUT THIS DASH CAM FOOTAGE OF THE SHOOTING STAR. PRETTY IMPRESSIVE. THE METEOROID ENTERED THE ATMOSPHERE AT ONLY 21 DEGREES FROM VERTICAL, SO ALMOST STRAIGHT DOWN, WHICH NASA SAYS IS ‘PRETTY UNUSUAL’.
BASED ON EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS, AND NASA’S OWN RESEARCH, THEY DETERMINED THIS TRAJECTORY FOR THE METEORITE. TRAJECTORY MEANS THE PATH FOLLOWED BY A FLYING OBJECT.
SPACE ROCKS ENTERING THE EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE ARE CONSIDERED METEOROIDS AND BECOME METEORS AS THEY BURN THROUGH THE SKY.
LET’S LISTEN TO RICHARD BELL, PRESIDENT OF THE KALAMAZOO ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY EXPLAIN THE PHENOMENON.
SOT: RICHARD BELL: " A METEOROID IS BASICALLY A SMALL CHUNK OF ROCK OR METAL ENTERS THE ATMOSPHERE AND IN FRONT OF IT IT COMPRESSES THE GASES OF OUR ATMOSPHERE. THE HEATED GAS VAPORIZES THE METEOROID AND WHEN THAT HAPPENS WE REFER TO IT AS A METEOR."
ACCORDING TO THE UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, THIS METEOR’S EXPLOSION ACTUALLY ENDED UP CAUSING A 2.0 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE! AND THE FLASH FROM THE EVENT WAS BRIGHTER THAN AN ENTIRE FULL MOON.
THE SIGHTING SENT PLENTY OF WITNESSES ON THE HUNT FOR FRAGMENTS LEFT BEHIND BY THE EXPLOSION. IT’S UNLIKELY THEY WILL FIND ANYTHING TOO BIG THOUGH, SINCE AS BELL EXPLAINED -- THE GASES VAPORIZE THE SPACE ROCK. BUT WHAT IS FOUND COULD BE WORTH A HUGE CHUNK OF CASH.
HERE YOU CAN SEE A PIECE FOUND BY ONE METEOR HUNTER. IT’S SINGED COMPLETELY BLACK ON THE OUTSIDE. WOW!