“Unprecedented Meteor Fireball Lights Up Windsor Sky! Could Baseball-Sized Space Debris Have Landed Near You?”
If you observed a brilliant light in the Windsor sky on Tuesday night, you were not alone. The American Meteor Society has documented 30 sightings of a meteor in the Windsor and Detroit skies around 7:40 p.m.
University of Windsor astronomer Steve Pellarin, although not an eyewitness, researched the incident on Wednesday morning. According to Pellarin, it was a highly luminous meteor, often referred to as a fireball or bolide. These are sizable fragments from space that collide with Earth’s atmosphere, creating a significant impact due to their size and tremendous speed, akin to throwing a rock into a deep pool.
Windsor Sky
Pellarin notes that smaller celestial debris regularly enters the Windsor Sky. He states, “Well, they happen this many times a night with smaller pieces. I mean, the Earth, we estimate, gets hit by enough material that it adds 200 tons of material to the earth each day. So there are lots and lots of these little rocks that are coming down and hitting the Earth’s atmosphere.”
The astronomer adds that this particular meteor seems to have been the size of a baseball, or possibly as large as a watermelon. While most falling pieces are akin to sand grains or tiny pebbles, this one’s considerable size resulted in a brilliantly illuminated trail. Windsor Sky Pellarin suggests there’s a chance that fragments may have reached the ground.
Windsor Sky Despite the presence of cameras set up by research teams to capture meteor events, individuals witnessing unusual sky activity are encouraged to report it to the American Meteor Society.
