Huge Meteor Lights Up Canadian Skies

On the evening of November 23, 2008, the ten-year-old daughter of Tammy Evans ran into her bedroom. She told her mother that there was a flash of light.  “The house shook like there were dinosaurs walking!,” exclaimed the little girl.

The girl was one of thousands of people who saw a meteor light up the sky in western Canada.  Scientist Alan Hildebrand said it was one of the biggest meteors to ever streak across the skies.  The spreading fireball was caught on video as it passed over the city of Saskatoon.

Hildebrand said about 300 witnesses had sent him e-mails about the object.  He said that the fireball would look like a billion-watt light bulb.

METEORS

A meteor is the part of a meteoroid that enters Earth’s atmosphere.  It is also called a shooting star or a falling star. The meteoroid begins in space as a rock.  It ranges in size from a grain of sand to a boulder.  When it reaches the ground, it is called a meteorite.

The word meteor comes from the Greek meteoros, which means high in the air.

An asteroid is an object bigger that a meteoroid.  Meteoroids sometime trail an asteroid or comet.  They fall to Earth in groups called meteor showers.  A few hit the atmosphere and skip out again.  Meteors are made up of different things.  Some are snow-like while others are made of nickel.

Most meteors occur in the mesosphere, and the ones we see range in altitude from 45 to 50 miles.  When a meteor is brighter than any of the planets, it is called a fireball.  The one seen over Canada was a bollide, an unusually bright fireball.

When a meteoroid enters the upper atmosphere, it ionizes the molecules as it passes.  Thus, an ionization trail is created.  Over the years, many people have reported hearing sounds when a meteor flared over head.  However, many scientists believe the sounds are imaginary, added by the mind.  If they were real, it is a mystery how these sounds could be made.

There are several sources for meteoroids.  Impacts between asteroids form some while others are formed in trails behind comets.  Impacts on the Moon or Mars are also sources for meteoroids. Hopefully, scientists will find the one that lit up the skies over Canada and learn more about these celestial objects.