Bright fireball over Michigan — third in the U.S. within 24 hours

A bright fireball streaked through the night sky over Michigan at around 04:15 UTC on August 23, 2024 (23:15 LT, August 22), and was witnessed by residents across the states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and New York, along with those in Ontario, Canada.

This is the third bright fireball event in the United States over the past 24 hours. The first one was recorded at 01:43 UTC over Kentucky, where it was observed by multiple witnesses across the region. The second fireball in the series was the one over Michigan at 04:15 UTC while the third fireball occurred at 11:13 UTC, illuminating the early morning sky over Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota.

The latest reported fireball was detected by specialized cameras operated by NASA’s Fireball Network and the Southern Ontario Meteor Network (SOMN).

According to the available data, the meteor first became visible at an altitude of 100 km (62 miles) above Rose City, Michigan.

The object moved southeast at a speed of 83 500 km/h (52 000 mph), covering a considerable distance before disintegrating at an altitude of 68 km (42 miles) above County Highway F-24, near Stylus Lake, Michigan.

Despite its brightness, the fireball was not bright enough to be detected by space-based instruments, NASA’s Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO) said.

However, it was sufficiently intense to saturate the meteor cameras on the ground.

The meteor’s orbit has been analyzed, and it is believed that the object responsible for the fireball was a fragment from a short-period comet, a type of comet that orbits the Sun in less than 200 years.

References:

¹ Bright fireball over Wisconsin – NASA/MEO – August 23, 2024

Featured image credit: NASA/MEO