What kind of meteor flew over Florida? A fireball lit up the Florida sky on Monday night.
On Monday evening, April 12, residents of Florida, the Bahamas and Jacksonville witnessed a meteor impact. Initially, it was assumed that this fireball is associated with the near-Earth asteroid GW4, which was supposed to pass about 16,000 miles from Earth on the night of April 12-13. However, this meteor had nothing to do with him, reports The Washington Post.
The American meteor community believes that the space rock moved from south to north about halfway between Florida's Atlantic coast and the western tip of Grand Bahama Island. A space body “the size of a car” exploded in the atmosphere south of Puerto Rico.
Jay O'Brien, a West Palm Beach reporter for CBS 12, was broadcasting a video to Facebook Live at that moment – a meteor effectively interrupting his filming.
WOAH! Big flash and streak across sky in West Palm Beach. Happened moments ago while we were on Facebook Live for a @ CBS12 story.
Working to figure out what it was. pic.twitter.com/VDl9pFtb3h
– Jay O Brien (@jayobtv) April 13, 2021
If the residents of Florida did not report any sounds during the fall of the fireball, then a sound boom was heard on the island of Grand Bahama, accompanied by some shaking, the American publication notes.
Meteor or meteorite?
As reported on the NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) website, fireballs or “shooting stars” are called meteors. Cosmic bodies (meteoroids) enter the outer atmosphere of the Earth, developing speeds from 25 thousand to 160 thousand miles per hour, rapidly decelerating due to air resistance. Friction generates a huge amount of heat, which is why the meteor burns out during the fall and can glow. It does not reach the surface of the planet.
If a space body survives this difficult path through the earth's atmosphere and falls to earth, it is already called a meteorite. In this case, a meteor flew over Florida, which “lived” long enough and exploded close to the ground. Several small fragments may have separated from it, which became meteorites and reached the surface – they could fall into the ocean.
