Last night's fireballNASA reports a bright fireball occurred over Georgia at 6:33 p.m. Thursday. It could be spotted from Chattanooga and across much of the Southeast.
All six NASA sky meteor cameras in the region picked up the meteor at an altitude of 50 miles above the town of McDonough, NASA said. From its brightness, it is estimated that this piece of an asteroid weighed at least 150 pounds and was over 16 inches in diameter.
"It entered the atmosphere at a steep angle (16 degrees from vertical) and moved almost due south at a speed of 29,000 miles per hour," NASA stated.
The NASA cameras tracked it to an altitude of 17 miles above the town of Locust Grove, where it had slowed to a speed of 9000 miles per hour, at which point the meteor ceased producing light by burning up.
It is possible that fragments of the object survived to reach the ground as meteorites; If so, they are located in Henry County south of Locust Grove, or in the counties adjacent to this area.
NASA reports a bright fireball occurred over Georgia at 6:33 p.m. Thursday. It could be spotted from Chattanooga and across much of the Southeast.