Very bright fireball explodes over Kentucky

A very bright fireball streaked through the night sky over Kentucky at 01:43 UTC on Friday, August 23, 2024 (21:43 LT, August 22). The breakup unleashed an energy of about 10 tons of TNT, which generated a pressure wave that traveled to the ground.

The American Meteor Society (AMS) received 204 reports from Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

The event was also detected by several cameras in the region and the Geostationary Lightning Mappers on the GOES 16 and 18 satellites.

Based on the currently available analysis, NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) estimated the meteor first became visible at an altitude of 85 km (53 miles) above the town of Clementsville, Kentucky, moving slightly south of west at 82 100 km/h (51 000 miles per hour).

The object traveled about 48 km (30 miles) before disintegrating 48 km (30 miles) above the town of Exie.

This fireball was produced by a meteoroid about 50 cm (20 inches) in diameter, weighing roughly 181 kg (400 pounds).

“The breakup of the fireball unleashed an energy of about 10 tons of TNT, which generated a pressure wave that traveled to the ground,” MEO said.

This wave is responsible for the noises heard by some eyewitnesses.

References:

¹ Fireball event 4582-2024 – AMS – August 23, 2024

² Very bright fireball over Kentucky last night (Thursday, August 22) at 9:45 PM local time – NASA/MEO – August 23, 2024

Featured image credit: CannonSevereWx